Stereotypes
by TW14
Summary: Zootopia AU where Nick and Judy both express the stereotypes of their species. That is until they meet each other under a set of weird circumstances and try to help each other change.
1. 10 months ago

**AN:** This is my first attempt at writing anything for this website or any website for that matter. It might be a bit sloppy and might not be the best piece out there but I will do my best to improve. I do have an idea of where this is going and I will try to update it regularly but can't make any promises.

Feel free to review, follow and favorite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 1: 10 Months ago

~10 Months ago~

It was exactly 10 months ago I was taken off the streets by Kevin and Raymond once my day of hustling was finished with Finnick. We were doing our usual father-son hustle since there was news of a new ice-cream store opening in Savanna central that was run and served to elephants.

We just finished splitting the cash and I was on my way to my "home" was I was taken by Mr. Big's polar bears. I was thrown into the back seats and before I could move to attempt to make an exit both Kevin and Raymond took their seats and effectively made all possible routes of escape unaccessible.

Throughout the entire journey to Mr. Big's manor, everything was silent except the odd chuckle here and there from Kevin as he flipped through his phone, looking at pictures of him and Raymond with some poor mammal in a headlock. As the journey was a long one I decided to just reflect on my past and wonder why I'm in this situation and if there is any way out of it. Granted I did know why Mr. Big had sent his two best and most experienced polar bears after me. He was out for revenge after the Skunk Butt Rug hustle I pulled on him. Back then I had no idea who he was and just saw him as another simple-minded mammal to hustle.

When I told Finnick about it he quickly informed me of who it was and made it clear to me that I would most certainly be "Iced" if he ever found me again. So I sat in the back seat wondering what Finnick could have meant by being "iced" when I looked past the bear to my right and noticed that we were now entering the tunnel that connected Savanna central and Tundra-Town when I felt a sharp pain the back of my neck. I turned around to face the source and the last thing I saw was the other polar holding some type of empty syringe before I had passed out.

When I woke up I noticed that I was sitting in a room that was filled with polar bears and a desk right in front of me. Knowing it would make the situation worse and that I wouldn't get very far, I decided against trying to escape and instead observed my surrounding for anything that would have given away where I was, what might possibly happen or anything that I would be able to use to my advantage.

As I observed the desk in front of me, I noticed the big office chair that was sized for a large polar bear. I thought back to my first meeting with "Mr. Big" and figured that he must have just been a messenger of some type just running an errand for the real Mr. Big. There was no way that the little shrew would have been called Mr. Big so now I had the fear of not knowing who the "Alpha" was.

I looked over to my left and noticed a memorial with a picture of an older ill-looking shrew next to a massive door. I looked at my door for a few moments and it only seemed to prove my point that the shrew was not Mr. Big. I then turned my attention to the memorial and the first thing I noticed was that the rug I spent so much time working on to give as a parting gift for the death of some random mammal was missing. _"Ungrateful piece of shi-"_

My thoughts were cut off as the door swung open to reveal three polar bears with the smallest at the front and the tallest at the back. As the last polar bear walked in I was confident that he was Mr. Big and chose to watch him, watching his every movement in hopes of finding any weakness as he walked slowly towards the desk. Internally frowning as he took his place at the desk and gave off no signs of a weakness I could use to my advantage. I was about to talk when he moved his hands away and spun a little chair around reveling the shrew that I sold the rug to.

He had his paw held out towards me showing a ruby ring on his index finger. I looked at him confused for a second, expecting him to say something. When he said nothing but held his paw out to me. I made my first of many mistakes and decided to speak up "Mr. Big?" I kept it short and simple, not wanting to make the situation worse.

He just held his paw out in front of him and when I made no move he made a signal with his other hand. Following his signal, I felt the large paws of a polar bear on the back of my neck and head learning me forward towards the ring on Mr. Big's paw and pushed my lips gently against it.

When I felt the paws remove themselves from making contact with me, I leaned back in my chair, rubbing the back of my neck as the shrew started speaking "Yes Nicky, that is me, we met a few weeks ago when you sold a rug for my grandmama's funeral" At the mention of the funeral the shrew and all the polar bears present bowed their heads and made no noise for a few seconds before they all raised their heads at once as if it were practiced.

"Nicky, I need you to do something for me, you can think of this as saying sorry to me and my family" I was watching the shrew intently. He showed no weaknesses other than the fact he cared deeply about his Grandmama, but I knew if I tried to use that as an angle to work at it, I would only be making the situation worse for myself. I took a deep breath and decided to hear his offer.

"ok, what do you want?"

He smiled a little and gave a soft chuckle "straight to the point, I like that," he said as he mentioned for the polar bear in the chair. Without another word, the bear pulled out a piece of paper that was comedically short in his paw and he placed it on the desk in front of me. I stared at it for a few seconds before looking at Mr. Big "open it" he said in a calm but demanding voice

I slowly took the piece of paper of the desk and unfolded it. The piece of paper was a ZPD application form. I was confused. Why was one of the biggest crime bosses in Zootopia giving me a form to join the mammals who were trying to stop him? I looked up at him and asked in a calm voice in hopes to hide how nervous I was "What's this for?"

He only gave me another short chuckle before he began to explain "You Nicky, are going to become a cop" This only confused me even more but before I had the chance to ask he continued "my families action have become...reckless and we have had the attention of the ZPD on our tails longer than I feel comfortable with, so I want someone on the inside"

While I was confused at first it made sense to me after he explained it but that didn't mean I was going to do it "Ok, let me stop you right there Mr. Big" I said as I adopted my hustling voice "I'm a fox in case you cannot tell and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let me in" I turned around and got off the chair and made my way towards the closest polar bear "This guy, however, he could do it" I handed the bear the application form and started heading towards the door when I heard Mr. Big click his fingers

In one swift motioned that looked like it was practiced, the polar bears near the door moved to block it and I was immediately picked up by the fur on the back of my neck. I was carried back to the desk where the chair I sat on had been moved and so had the carpet revealing a floorboard that was easily lifted out by another bear revealing a deep pool of what looked like freezing cold water.

 _"So this is what Fin meant when he said I was going to be Iced,"_ I thought as I was carried over to the pool of water. Once I was held over it and was being slowly lowered was when the situation had finally hit me. That was when I realized that I was about to be killed by some crazy mammal. I quickly raised my feet and tail as high as I could and looked at Mr. Big. His expression had not changed and he just stared back at me. Blank stoic expression on his face.

"Hey hey come on... let's work this out," I say as the polar above me continue to lower me down to an icy grave. Mr. Big's expression still didn't change. It was obvious what he wanted and it was also obvious that he wasn't going to let me go unless I agreed to his terms "You know what, fine I'll become a cop for a crime boss" I say the whole of the situation out loud to the shrew, hoping he realises how little sense everything made. Mr. Big's expression changed a little and there was now a smug grin in place. He clicked his fingers again and everything moved back into place.

I was sitting back on the chair at the desk filling in all the necessary details. I was almost finished when Mr. Big started talking again "That isn't all you will be doing for me Nicky" I reluctantly looked at him to see him still with that smug grin on him, knowing that it could rival mine I instantly hated it. Before I could ask what he meant, he continued "If you want to be fully repaid you will do one job for me"

Already regretting having to ask the obvious question, I swallowed a lump in my throat "what job?"

"There is this Bunny down in Bunnyburrow about a 2 hour train ride from here that has asked me for a loan. While it is normal for mammals to ask for a loan from me, I am reluctant about this one. I have reasons to believe they won't pay the loan back in time, if it is necessary, you will kill this bunny" He said and somehow his voice was still calm and his expression no longer had that smug grin on his face. I wondered how he could act so calm when talking about killing some poor mammal.

Knowing that I would hate the answer again but at the same time wanting to ask in order to cure my curiosity, I reluctantly asked "and what if they do pay the loan?"

Mr. Big just grinned at me again before answering "We give you another mammal to kill but for now, it is the bunny, Kevin, Raymond" he called the two bears forward he took me here and the two stepped to either side of me making me more nervious than I already was "take him back to where ever you found him but Nicky if you try to run, we will find you" before I could respond I felt the same sharp pain in the back of my neck and was soon out cold again.

* * *

I woke up in the alley across the street from where I was taken. It was now in the early morning of the next day. I searched over myself checking to make sure nothing happened to me and was happy to find there was no visible injuries. But when I checked my pants pockets I found the filled out ZPD application form and a note from Mr. Big. I reluctantly opened it and read it to myself.

 _Nicky_

 _You remember our conversation and you will do what I asked of you. The ZPA will take you 10 months to go through, once you finished your training, Kevin and Raymond will meet you under your bridge and we will talk more about your situation then._

 _Good Luck_

 _-Mr. Big_

I stared at the letter and went over it multiple times. I took a deep breath and realized there was no getting out of the situation I got myself in, especially if I wanted to live the rest of my life. Reluctantly I made my way to the ZPD Precinct one, in the middle of Savannah Central.

On the way there I decided to call Finnick and explain the situation I was in. After a few missed calls he finally decided to pick up

"Nick? What do you want it's 6 in the morning? Ain't you meant to be asleep?"

I took a deep breath and spoke in my hustler voice "Yeah sorry about that buddy but uhhh you remember you warned me about that Shrew?"

"Mr. Big yeah I remember. Has he finally caught you and gave you one final phone call so you decided to tell me about this big hustle you been teasing me about?" He asked and chuckled a little, despite the fact I couldn't see him, I knew he would have a stupidly big grin on his face.

"Well yes and no. He did catch me but thankfully he isn't going to kill me-" I was about to continue but Finnick was quick to cut me off

"That's a shame," He said before he started laughing at his own failed attempt at a joke.

"Thanks buddy, I care for you too," I say in a sarcastic voice before going back to the topic that was previously at hand "he has got me to work for him and is getting me to do something I don't want to do but I'm going to have to do it, for my own safety" I say before taking a deep breath "It's better if I tell you in person if we meet in the usual spot in about an hour I'll tell you everything when we meet but I'm going away for a few months, basically a year, I'll let you guess why"

There is a sigh at the other end of the line and a few quiet curses before he says clearly "ok in the usual spot but Ni-" Wanting to get back at the fennic for what he had said earlier, I hung up, knowing that he would only have questions to ask.

As I pocket my phone I notice that I'm approaching Precinct One of the ZPD. As I walk into the building I'm aware of all the looks I must be getting from everyone, no one expects a fox to walk into a police building unless he is cuffed, muzzled and escorted by a cop. I shudder a little at the thought of the sinister device and my experience with it. Putting the thoughts in the back of my head, I walk up to the front desk and look at the overweight cheetah with his phone in one hand and a doughnut in the other. "If he can do so can I," I say to myself quietly so no one can hear it as I slip the application form into a box that was labeled with "ZPA Application Forms"

As I turn around to exit I see everyone staring at me. I simply just smirk and pull my sunglasses out and put them on as I head out the door. Before I exit I turn around and say in a raised voice "I look forward to working with you all" before turning and leaving towards my bridge to get ready to meet Finnick.


	2. It had to be done

**AN:** Feel free to leave a Review, Favourite and Follow. I am also open to PMs if you wish to contact me that way

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 2: It had to be done

Today was Nick's first day on the job. After lying, cheating and hustling his way through the 10 months at the ZPA, pranking both instructors and fellow cadets along the way, the fox managed to pass as valedictorian and make it into precinct one, located right in the heart of Zootopia. Of course, he did have a say in the voting, but no one had to know about that.

Nick had woken up at 6 o'clock, earlier than what he woke up at as a street hustler. Despite how much he hated the idea at first, Nick had grown to like the idea of being a cop, being able to use it as an advantage in a few hustles with Finnick in the near future.

He may have joined so he could survive and continue to live another day but that didn't mean he wasn't going to enjoy it. He put on his uniform and started walking to the closest bus stop in order to pick up a bus to the precinct at 6:25 which, if there were no problems, gave the fox plenty of time and opportunities to observe his co-worker.

Upon arriving at the bus stop, he received the usual foul stares he would get because of his species but now, every mammal would stare a little longer. There were muttered whispers between different families and friends, from what Nick could hear they all sounded similar to "He must be putting on an act" and there was one or two whispers about "Who do you think he bedded in order to get that job".

When he got off the bus stop, only a short walk away from the police station he was stationed at for the foreseeable future. Being a little ahead of time, Nick decided to walk a little slower than what he had to get to the bus. As he walked thoughts ran through his head, most were about his meeting with Mr. Big at 7:30. He didn't want to take an innocent mammal's life but deep down, he knew he had to. Was it selfish? Yes, yes it was, but Nick didn't want his mother to go through the loss and be left alone. Thinking about his mother brought back both happy and sad memories. She couldn't make it to his graduation ceremony but she promised a phone call one day so the vixen could express how happy she was about her son's sudden change in career.

Noticing that he was just coming to his new workplace, the fox stopped his momentarily to put his mask in place, expecting the worst to happen. He figured if he wanted to be taken a little seriously, he would need to make a good entrance. Slowly going up the steps towards the front door he took a deep breath and push the doors open with all his strength.

"Guess who's back," he said with volume and confidence in his voice, smiling as he remembered his last words spoken in Precinct One, those words being spoken 10 months ago. All heads had turned back and stared at the fox. Much like the bus, there were hushed whispers all around him as he walked towards the front desk much like he did when giving in his application form.

Sitting behind the front desk was an overweight cheetah, spoon in his mouth as he watched the fox walk towards his desk. Quickly taking the spoon from his mouth and placing it back in his bowl of cereal he quickly turned to the fox and introduced himself, holding his paw out to the fox "Good morning officer, I'm Officer Clawhauser, As you can see here" he said gesturing with his spare paw towards a nameplate "I mainly work the front desk but sometimes the Chief sends me out to do fieldwork, can I just say that what you are doing, by beating the stereotypes of a fox, that takes courage and bravery"

Not expecting the compliment from the cheetah Nick went stiff for a second, going over the cheetah's words in his head, assessing how genuine his words were before he held his paw out, taking Clawhauser's into a firm pawshake "Nice to meet you Spots, is it ok that I call you that?" Nick had asked but continued before giving Clawhauser time to respond "Listen I kind of want to make a good impression on the chief, could you just point me towards the bullpen please" He had made sure to add enough urgency into his voice so he could fool the cheetah into believing him.

Taking his paw back from the fox and picking his bowl up, the cheetah pointed to the hallway to Nicks right "yeah sure, down that hallway you need to take the first left and it should be the third door on your right" He said before giving Nick a hopeful smile and a wave before quickly added "don't worry about the Chief though, he is a good mammal"

Nick had returned the wave, albeit with less enthusiasm as he made his way into the bullpen, 15 minutes until it was time for roll call to officially start. Having a look around the room he noticed the pedestal at the front with a blackboard behind it, rows and rows of chairs and tables in front of it, reminded the fox of his time at school. Knowing his place as a rookie, Nick took a seat at the front, guessing the older and more experienced would gravitate towards the back row. He had to resist the urge to set up some type of prank. Which for Nick was easier said than done, barely going by one week in the academy before his first prank.

Judging by the noise coming from a distance outside, Nick figured he had enough privacy and figured now would be the best time to have a short phone call with his mother and let her express how proud she was. Taking out his phone he scrolled through the short contact list until he came across a contact labeled "Mom". When he pressed to call her and it connected almost instantly, almost as if the vixen was expecting him to call.

 _"Nicky, what are you doing call me now? Shouldn't you be at work? which by the way I am very pleased with you finally going clean"_ The voice came through the line soft and filled with pride. She didn't know why he had chosen out of the blue to become a cop, but that didn't mean she didn't like the idea. It was also best to keep his mother in the dark when it came to his reasoning, knowing she wouldn't be very pleased with him now working for the mob.

Nick took a quiet deep breath before saying calmly "Hey Mom, I just thought I would call you, I don't have long thought about, 5 minutes tops"

 _"Ohhhh Nicky that's very thoughtful of you, I knew that loving and caring kit I raised is still there."_ Her voice sounding as if she was on the edge of tears _"You always said as a kit that you wanted to help mammals, but that was always as a Scout Ranger and not a cop, but after that incident, I'm glad you chose to turn your life around, prove those horrible prey wrong"_ Nick thought to himself as his mother continued to speak. He wanted to tell her about his situation with Mr. Big in hopes to take some pressure off his shoulder, but living on the streets, the tod learned a lot of important lessons, one being that you can't trust other's to keep their mouths shut. As bad as that may sound, Nick knew that his mother wouldn't feel comfortable knowing the information and she would tell someone else, starting a chain until it reaches either the chief of police or Mr. Big.

Nick hadn't realized but his mother had finished talking _"Well?"_ She asked in a voice that wanted an answer and wasn't going to go without one. Suddenly having to think on his feet, Nick tried to think back quickly to what was said, only for his mind to come up blank.

"Thanks for the support Mom but what did you ask? One of my friends came over had to tell me something work-related" Nick lied. He knew that if he said he had made friends there was a chance it would make his mother feel less annoyed at him. Thankfully it seemed to work.

 _"Don't worry my little Nicky, I'm glad you have already made friends, I had just asked if you were planning on settling down and having kits anytime soon"_

Nick felt his heart skip a couple beats. He looked at his phone with eyes wide with shock. The way that she had said it so nonchalantly that it sounded like a rabbit had said it. While Nick had never seen a full rabbit family he did believe that rabbits were good at multiplying. Feeling a blush quickly come up his body he tried to think of something to say. He opened his mouth to talk but no words came out. He closed his mouth before quickly opening it again, an idea of what to say forming in his head.

 _"It's not like you're getting any younger Nick and I want to see grandkits from my only son, As sad as it may sound I at least want to hear that the Wilde name will continue for a few more years"_ His mother unknowingly cut him off, the calm and even tone of voice surprising Nick. He didn't think he would be able to talk so calmly about this subject, even if it came up during a hustle.

Quickly thinking of a lie to try and change the subject, Nick quickly made up a mental image of a vixen that would catch his eye. "Well, actually I have uhmm...I went out on a date with a vixen not too long ago" While Nick was trying to sound calm, he knew that a little bit of panic was in his voice.

 _"Oh my god really Nicky, why didn't you tell me? What is she like? What's her name? How long have you been with her? Have you, Hold on, you haven't already got kits do you?"_ The question came out one after the other in rapid-fire, Nick thinking of the best way to answer each question. The last question that was asked shocked him but he managed to keep his shock and surprise under control...for all of ten seconds.

"WHAT!" he half shouted into the phone. He would have shouted louder if he wasn't at his workplace "No mom, I do not have kits of my own, as for your other questions..." He took a deep breath and went back to the mental image of the Vixen he had made up. Taking a few deep breaths before continuing "She's really nice and caring for everyone, she's on the shorter side in terms of height, she has excellent manners and must have come from a very open-minded family given her views of the world, she..." Nick's ears perked up as he heard distant footsteps grow louder and louder.

His mother had picked up on his pause and took the time to question _"Nick? What's wrong?"_ She asked with concern and confusion in her voice.

Thankful for the sudden interruption, Nick suddenly spoke into his phone "sorry mom, have to go, I'll talk some other time" before hanging up and learning back into his chair.

As the door of the bullpen opened Nick turned his body slightly, allowing himself to see everyone walk in. He watched everyone with interest and got very similar reading on everyone with the only exception being a timber wolf who seemed to be rather quiet. Nick watched the wolf with interest finding himself somewhat interested that there was someone as quiet as he was planning to be.

He heard a side door open and a cape buffalo come out. _"This must be the infamous Chief Bogo that everyone besides me seems to know about"_ Nick thought to himself before quickly being snapped out of his thoughts as the room was emitted with bangs and shouts and hollers from everyone, including the once quiet timber wolf _"so much for being quiet"_ Nick thought as he looked around the room. Everyone standing and slamming their paws on the table. Nick looked forward, meeting the buffalo's piercing gaze for a split second before the buffalo shouted in a voice that demanded to be listened to.

"Alright shut it!" At this all noise in the room stopped and everyone took their seats again "So I'm told that we have a new recruit and that I need to make some type of introduction"There was a pause and Nick couldn't help a small smile show on his muzzle "who cares" the buffalo continued, earning a few chuckles from the officers.

Nick, however, didn't like how he was being treated by his boss in the first few minutes of his new job. Deciding to let loose some of his snark, Nick showed off his well trained smug smile "ha! You should have your own line of inspirational greeting cards sir, if you want I know a guy who could get you started" He said as he leaned back in his chair and rested his hands behind his head. His own comment causing another round of chuckles and even had one or two officers holding their paws over their mouth.

Bogo let the comment sink in, letting his officers have their laugh. His gaze caught onto the fox's, the two mammals shared a look for a while before the larger of the two cleared his throat, effectively silencing the entire room. His gaze left the foxes momentarily to look at the profile of his newest officer. "Fox," he said as he reached under the pedestal and took out a pair of small keys before throwing them towards Nick.

Nick caught the keys and stared at them for a second, trying to figure out what they belonged to. Nick looked up at the chief, expecting an answer to his unanswered question, the smug grin on the chief's face making Nick regret looking up. All Chief Bogo said was "Parking duty, dismissed". There was a chorus of noises coming from the room from the surrounding officers, all aimed at the fox rookie. A pawful of officers laughing as the fox slowly slide off his chair and walked down the aisle.

* * *

Nick was riding around Savanna Centre in the cramped and accurately 'three-wheeled joke mobile'. He slowly pulled up to a curb and started to walk to an expired meter. His police uniform half covered in a bright reflective orange vest that made him look even more like a joke.

"I swear I can walk faster than that pathetic excuse of a vehicle" Nick murmured to himself. He had been tempted on multiple occasions to just leave the vehicle by the curb and walk from each area he had to patrol but decided against it. Purely because he didn't want to be punished for some stupid reason.

As he walked from each expired meter he was slowly catching up to the current record of 100 tickets before noon. He felt both pride but also embarrassment. Pride because of how well he was doing his job, despite how easy it might be. Embarrassment because he would be remembered as "the-fox-who broke-the-record-for-most-tickets-before-noon-on-his-first-day"

 _"At least no one I know can see me right now,"_ He thought to himself.

"Nick?" He heard his name called and his ears perked up and turned towards the source when it called again "Nick? Is that you?" The voice was very familiar with the uninformed fox and he immediately felt his stomach turn and cheeks heat up.

"For fuck sake, why did it have to be Finnick?"

* * *

Nick was thankful to get off his shift. He had entered and left the precinct in a hurry. Part due because of the embarrassment of his role to the ZPD, but mostly because he didn't want to run late for his meeting with Mr. Big. He had avoided using public transport and decided to use the shortcuts he learned as a kit. He had decided to use the luxury of privacy at the precinct and get changed out of his uniform into his usual loose Hawaiian shirt, loose red tie, and baggy pants.

He had arrived at the bridge that he had called home for a while now, but there was no sign or Mr. Big or any of his polar bears. The only noticeable change was the branded envelop on his make-shift bed. He slowly picked the envelope and tore it open carefully, using his index claw. Letting the letter and picture slide out onto his bed, he carefully picked the folded letter up like it was a newborn kit and opened it slowly and read it in his head.

 _"Nicky_

 _It is a shame that we cannot meet, I trust that you understand how important this is for me. You remember that bunny I told you about? Well, they still owe money and have made no attempt to pay it back. You know what to do and I trust you will do so without getting caught. But if you do, I trust you will take care of them as well._

 _There is a picture with this letter that will show you the target, along with some information about them._

 _Happy hunting._

 _-Mr. Big"_

Nick let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He looked down at the picture of his poor target. Picking it up, he brought it closer to his face and carefully examined the picture before slowly turning it around and reading all the information.

He just stayed like that for a pawful of minutes, changing the side he was looking at every now and then. He hesitantly reached into his back pocket of his pants, pulling his phone out as he scrolled through his contacts list before settling on who to call.

 _"Hey, hey, it's the meter maid!"_ Finnick's deep voice sounded from the other end of the line

"First Finnick lets both just remember why I'm doing that job and second..." Nick hesitated for a second trying to decide whether or not to rope one of his only friends into his business but he needed to, otherwise he would look suspicious, a fox traveling to BunnyBurrow only to come out looking shell-shocked only a few hours later. "I need you to take me to BunnyBurrow as soon as possible, preferably right now" Nick didn't realize but his voice had come out as somewhat panicked.

Finnick took a while to respond but after a while he stated calmly _"sure Nick, you going to have a nice feast?"_ He teased knowing that it had the possibility to rile Nick up

Nick laughed nervously before responding "yeah, yeah sure Finnick, whatever, just meet me at the bridge and don't go too hard on the beer I actually want to live a little longer" Nick spoke nervously before hanging up.

As he hung up, the joke Finnick made kept popping into his head _"you going to have a nice feast?"_ When another thought came to his head _"how am I going to kill them? I don't have a weapon or anything, I can't just..."_ Nick's thoughts were cut off when he looked at his paws, his eyes darting to his claws. He shivered at the thought of having to use his claws and shivered even stronger when he thought about his teeth.

"Mr. Big did this on purpose," Nick said out loud to himself, not caring in the slightest if he was overheard as anger started to run through his body. Thankfully, Nick wasn't left with his thoughts for long as he heard the terrible music that was playing in Finnick's van as the fennic neared closer and closer to the bridge. Picking up the letter and picture of the bunny, Nick set off to get into the back of Finnicks van

"What chu' doin' back there?" Finnick asked as Nick climbed into the back and just laid down on the beanbag.

"If it's fine with you Fin, I was going to try and get some sleep before we get there," Nick said with his face buried in the bean bag "This might be the last decent sleep I have for a few months"

"Awwww what's wrong? Being a meter maid too tiring?" Finnick teased as Nick just raised his paw and gave him a rude one-fingered gesture "Nah Nick don't worry, you get some rest" Nick was thankful for Finnick being understanding and pulled his phone and earphones out of his pockets. He decided to put some of his own music on for him to have on in the background as he went to sleep. The first song was Gazelle's "Try everything". It was a guilty pleasure song for Nick that he would never own up to liking to anyone.

* * *

Nick was suddenly back in Mr. Big's office, sitting back on the chair that was placed over the loose floorboard where the pit of ice water was. Nick had looked around for the sight of his friend, only to come up empty-pawed. The room he was in was completely empty, no signs of either Mr. Big or his polar bear entourage.

Much like before, the side door near the memorial opened with a bang that caused Nick to jump in his chair but he found that he was tied to the chair by a mixture of tape and rope.

One by one the polar bears walked in and each looked at Nick was disgust. The last of the polar bears walked in and closed the door forcefully, causing another bang to shake the room and Nick despite the fact he was expecting it. The bear took the seat behind the desk and in the same fashion as before, revealed Mr. Big.

Confused, scared and slightly angry he turned to Mr. Big "Where is Finnick?" Nick asked with both anger and fear evident in his voice, despite how much he tried to stay calm.

"I do not have long for this meeting Nicky, but if you must know Finnick is in good paws, he did the right thing bringing you here," Mr. Big said as he clicked his claws together. Nick was lifted in the chair. When he looked down the loose floorboard was gone and in its spot was a pit of ice cold water, the place that would soon become the fox's resting place.

"What? What have I done? Fin...Finnick was taking me to kill the bunny, I was going to do it, I swear" Nick begged as he looked down at the deep pool of ice water.

"Yes but this Finnick had told us that during your sleep you had talked about running away from Zootopia, faking your own death so you didn't have to do it, you are a coward Nicky" The shrew got up from his chair and walked to the lip of the desk and Nick was moved in front of the shrew, still hanging in the air as the shrew spat on his face "And here I thought you deserved a second chance, ice him"

"Wait...wait please Mr. Big I'll do it just give me another chance and I'll deliver well, I'll do the job, I'll kill the bunny, hell I'll kill anyone you tell me to, just please don't kill me" If he could, Nick would have been on his knees with his head leaning on his tightly clasped paws, but for right now, all he could do was look at the person who had got him to go through ten hellish months of police training so that he could become a cop and give the mob boss inside information on if the police where getting suspicious about him and his crew. The mammal who got him to do his dirty work and kill an innocent mammal. The person that was now about to kill him.

Mr. Big had opened his mouth and Nick felt his throat run dry as he held his breath, hoping for the best. Only to be shot out of the sky as Mr. Big closed his mouth and nodded to Kevin who was holding Nick. Upon the signal, Kevin quickly used his claws to cut the rope and tape holding Nick in the chair. Nick dropped from the height he was at and fell into the Ice cold water with a splash.

His fur quickly stuck to his skin as he held his breath and looked at where he just dropped from, only to find that the floorboard was already in place. He went up to it and tried pushing it off but failed. Not wanting to accept his demise, he scratched and clawed at the floorboard but it did nothing. As his energy was used, he grew tired and his eyelids grew heavy. Eventually, his eyelids shut and he could feel himself being dragged down into the bottomless icy pit that was now his eternal resting place.

* * *

Nick woke up and was breathing heavily. His right paw held to his chest. His left paw touching his cheek where Mr. Big had spat on him. _"It's just a dream,"_ Nick thought to himself _"It was just a dream,"_ he thought again before sighing from relief "It was just a dream," he said out loud to himself

"What chu yappin' on 'bout back there?" Finnick asked from the front of the van. As Nick opened his mouth, Finnick quickly shut him up "Ya know what, I don't care" he said before gesturing out the window "here we are"

Nick looked out the window and was surprised to see that they were just across the dirt road from his targets family farm. Nick looked at Finnick with a surprised look causing the fennic to burst out laughing for a short few seconds before explaining "When you fell asleep these..." Finnick reached towards the dash and pulled out the letter and Picture from Mr. Big that was in Nick's pants pocket "Fell out and me being a curious fox decided to check it out and ohhh boy, can I say you have really screwed yourself up," Finnick said before bursting into another set of laughs

"Yeah cheers buddy," Nick said before taking another look out the window and noticed a bunny working on an old looking truck leaning on his right shoulder with a phone resting on it "Here goes nothing," Nick said as he slowly and quietly got out of the van and sneaked his way up to the bunny. As he got closer, Nick started listening to their conversation...or at least half of it.

"Yeah don't worry about that, it was all my pleasure," There was a pause from the bunny as they seemed to listen to whoever was on the other end "Ok, well I'm head off to Zootopia tomorrow morning, I'm thinking of having a look around at all the sights and I was uhhhh... I was wondering if you would like to join?"

Nick felt even more guilty, he wasn't only killing someone but he was also killing someone's partner, potentially someone's mate. Nick decided that now was probably the best time so that he didn't have to feel guilty for stopping a future date.

Nick gave up on stealth and jumped out from where he was hiding, quickly muffling the bunny's mouth with his paw and hesitating for a second. It was when the bunny in his arms started to try and scream and escape, that's when Nick did what he had to. He closed his eyes and quickly brought his other paw down to the neck of the bunny, claws easily breaking skin, blood coating the fox's paw as it spurted out, any movement impossible for the bunny to make as their body became cold and lifeless, no longer struggling to escape or get anyone else to help them.

Nick was about to pick the bunny up and carry to Finnick's van so they could hide the body on their way back to Zootopia. But the fox stopped in his tracks, ears twitching as his attention was brought to the phone that was on the floor. There was a faint voice coming from it. Nick had felt like his heart had been shot.

He slowly bent down and used the limp bunny's hand to pick up the phone, not wanting to leave any pawprints if anyone came across the phone and reported it to the police. Bringing the phone up to his ears, the panicked voice came even clearer "Hello? Are you there? Is anyone there?..." The voice was saying more but Nick couldn't bring himself to listen to it for any longer. Nick knocked lightly on the truck, silencing the voice on the other end of the line and before the voice could start again Nick quickly whispered "I'm sorry, it had to be done" into the phone and dropped the phone back onto the floor under the truck, not wanting to hear what else the voice had to say.

Nick carried the bunny back to Finnick's van. The fennic looked to be asleep at the front of the vehicle, which Nick was thankful for. He quietly got back in the van and woke Finnick up "Fin buddy, it's time to go, we need to make a drop off on the way back, can't be seen with that" Nick said nodding his head in the direction of the dead bunny, a thin blanket draped over the body.

Finnick had stayed quiet and started the van before starting to drive back to zootopia.


	3. The Day Before

**AN:** Feel free to leave a Review, Favourite and Follow. I am also open to PMs if you wish to contacts me that way

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 3: The Day Before

as the sun slowly peeked over the horizon in a mix of orange and yellow light Judy had jumped out of her bed just before the alarm went off. Quickly silencing it stretched her arms out she walked over to the small mirror that was propped up against the wall. As her reflection stepped into sight she started to pat down all of her fur that was out of place or knotted together.

Quickly after she reached for her desk and grabbed the brush and started to groom her fur down. This was always the first thing Judy did in the morning despite the fact that she was going to get mud all over herself when she goes out to plant crops. While continuing to groom her fur she walked over to her small closet and pulled out a pink plaid shirt and slim fitting jeans.

She debated about the shirt. It had always been one of her favourites and she didn't like to get it dirty. "I'll see if I can find another" she said as she walked back to her closet and started to search for a different shirt. She didn't know until know but Judy actually had a small amount of clothes that fit her. Most where from her times as a kit

"I have to have something in here" she said as she was coming the the end of her clothes. When she reached the final piece of clothing she stopped what she was doing and just stared at the police outfit she made with the help of her parent when she was nine. She slowly pulled the uniform out and placed it next to the outfit she would wear today on her bed. She was happy to stand and stare at the outfit as memories of the Carrot Day festival came to her mind. The performance put on by her small group of friends, the very short conversation she had with her parents, helping her friends get her tickets back...

As the last thought came to mind she slowly raised her left hand and lightly ran it over the fur off her left cheek. Her fingers ran over the claw marks that was left by Gideon. The events sometimes came to her in dreams and nightmares, each time the events getting worse.

Wanting to distract herself from the bad memories Judy looked to her desk where a small and old laptop sat. She had tried multiple times to apply for the ZPD academy but was met with denial every time. This however did not stop her from trying. "one day" she said as she looked back at the uniform and picked it up to put it away "one day I will be accepted and will become the first bunny cop and help make the world a better place"

When Judy put the uniform away and started to put the outfit she would wear for the day there was a light knock at the door which caused her ears to turn in the direction of the door. Before Judy could do so much as tell who was on the other end to wait their voice was projected through the door "Judy, Mom says breakfast is ready and if you don't come and eat it then it will be given to Ellie"

It was well known in the Hopps family that Judy and her older sister Ellie did not get along well. The rivalry between the two had started seemingly out of nowhere and nobody knows why. They were constantly battling against one another in order to see who was better than the other. But there was some good out of it for Stu and Bonnie as they could use it to gain an advantage between the two. Whether it be something like skipping a meal or holding secrets. Either way it was effective on both Judy and Ellie.

Now fully dressed Judy quickly opened her door and almost ran into one of her litter mates Jack. While he was grey like Judy he lacked the black tips on the end of his ears, he was a little taller than Judy but not enough to loom over her, Jack's eyes where muddy brown much like his shirt. Taking a step back and bumping into her closed door she looked at her brother "Thank you Jack". His response was a simple nod of the head before he turned around and headed back to breakfast followed closely by Judy.

* * *

Breakfast had gone down relatively calm for the Hopps family and slowly one by one the members off the family went off to do there own activities. The younger members getting reading for school with some of the older members helping while the rest went off to do their chores. Judy had helped her mother with her brothers and sister in any way she could. She helped pack some of their bags and give away lunches until they were all ready to leave.

Just as Judy was heading for the backdoor to tend to some of the crops or do any chore she saw that needed to be done she heard her name called from the front door "Judy!" she snapped her head around and noticed that her mother and father were standing at the front door motioning with their paws to walk to them.

Curiously Judy walked towards her parents and spoke before either of them had a chance to talk "what do you want?" she asked cheerfully but spoke up again "hold on let me guess, you have a list of jobs you want done before you get back and you want me to tell everyone" She said it with so much confidence as she was sure that she was correct in her assumption

Bonnie was about to speak up but her husband beat her to it "actually no, we uhmmm...we had been talking with the Jummps family and uhh..uhhhh could you help me her Bon?" Stu asked as he started to choke his own words and he turned towards his wife.

Bonnie herself took a deep breath and looked into Judy's amethyst eyes and took another deep breath breath before saying "and they mentioned how one of their sons Darren has a thing for you so we agreed on your behalf for you two to meet and get to know each other.

Judy's mouth hung open at the reveal from her parents. Sure in the past they may of asked her to meet with some bucks but they never answered for her. Judy couldn't even form a sentence in her disbelief "you...you WHAT!?" Judy took a deep breath with her eyes closed and head leaned back "you'r making me go on a date with Darren?" she asked with her voice full of shock and a bit of anger. She took a deep breath again and tried to calm herself down before speaking again "it's fine, I can just say that I don't like him"

Stu took a deep breath and looked down at the floor while muttered "well uhhmm your date may or may not be...today" The last word came out as a squeak as he avoided Judy's stare. Bonnie also avoided Judy's stare but decided to look around the room in any direction and staring at anything other than Judy.

Judy just stared at her parents and muttered under her breath "sweet cheese and crackers" before she turned around and started heading back towards her room before she slowly turned her head around so she could look at her parents out of the corner of her eye and asked "when is he coming here?" her voice lacked it's usual enthusiasm

Bonnie decided to answer her quietly "His parents texted us just before we called you over and said he just left in the family truck and should take about an hour or so to get here"

Judy just sighed and turned around heading back to her room again before muttering to herself "and he's using he truck? Maybe if i'm quick enough I can tell him to turn around"

As she entered her room she had every intention to text him to turn around but guilt over took her and she couldn't bring herself to do it. She decided to quickly open her laptop and filled in another ZPD online application form and laid down on her bed listening to her music until sleep slowly took over her.

* * *

Judy woke up to a knock a her door. She slowly got up and gave herself a once over in her mirror and was thankful that she wouldn't have to sort her fur out again. She walked up to the door and was met again by Jack. He looked at Judy with a knowing smile and simply stated "your date is here" and turned around and left. She presumed that he headed back to his jobs.

Judy sighed as she was forced to remember about her date with Darren and she lightly hit her head against her door and took a deep breath before slowly heading towards the front door. She made sure to move as quietly as possible to make sure that she wouldn't be heard so she could overhear some of the conversation they must be having. The first thing her eyes saw was the almost golden fur colour of Darren. There was speculation around most of Bunnyburow about Darren's fur over whether or not he dyed it. He was a little taller than Jack but his ears where smaller than your average bunny.

Judy wished she paid attention to the conversation her parents and Darren were having as she was pulled from her thoughts as Bonnie stood up and stared heading towards Judy. Judy quickly backed up a little before starting to head towards the room she was just peeking in. "ohhh hi mom" Judy said with faux enthusiasm as she walked past her mother as if she wasn't there.

When she approached Stu and Darren she was able o see the front of him. His eyes where dark blue that could be confused for black and he had some weight on his stomach showing that he was not in prime condition and din't care about his health all hat much, unlike Judy.

Darren got up from he couch and went to grab for Judy's paw until she took a step back and held her paws behind her back. Trying to recover from the awkwardness he lowered his hand to wipe it on his pants as he spoke "it's a pleasure to meet you Judy, I hope i'm not an inconvenience of any sorts" His voice was surprisingly deep, sounding as if it came from a larger mammal

Judy was about to speak when Stu spoke up as he stood from the couch and stared to push them towards the door "ohhh of course not Darren, our Judy here has been looking forward to this ever since we told her last week"

In that instance Judy was both shocked and angry. Angry that her father had just lied to someone who he was trying to set her up with because she did not look forward to this at all. But she was also shocked because her parents had been planning this for for a week and only decided to tell her an hour before he arrived. Judy had to use all of her will power to not turn around and snap at her father.

She hadn't realised until the front door slammed behind her that she was outside. She turned her head around and gave the door a death stare before bringer herself back to reality and her new companion for the next couple of hours. She began thinking of ways that she would be able to leave early ranging from a fake family emergency to saying she had to be up early in the morning to go into Zootopia.

She was brought out of her thoughts as she saw Darren's paw slowly move towards her own in the corner of her own. She stepped forward quickly and began to think quickly about what to say as she headed towards the Jummps' family truck. Finally settling on something to say she raised her head with the tip of her ears peeking over the roof of the truck "So what's the plan for today?" she asked with fake enthusiasm as new thoughts of how to make this the least like a date came into her head _"maybe if I treat hi like a friend he might get the message"_

"I was thinking maybe heading to the mall for the day and see where the night takes us" he said as he unlocked the truck and climbed in, the vehicle shifting slightly with his weight.

Judy climbed in slowly _"He defiantly has something planned"_ Judy thought as the trucks engine started. She was tempted to sleep a little more but decided against it because she couldn't trust Darren. Partly due because with meeting each other in five minutes he had already tried to reach for her paw twice. _"I'm defiantly not saying with him all day, just treat the mall the same you would if he was a long friend than lie about having to go to Zootopia in the morning"_

Darren kept looking at Judy from the corner of his eyes, making her feel uncomfortable. Her feelings were not made much better when he spoke up. The topic of it clearly showing what his intentions towards Judy were "So Judy, what do you look for in a buck"

Judy was tempted to take the chance and fall asleep there and then rather than answer that question but she took the time to think about the question herself _"What do I look for in a buck?"_ It wasn't something she thought about much since she hadn't been in a romantic relationship before and didn't think she would for a few years if she made it to the police academy.

Thinking up a answer to the question Judy responded slowly and decided to keep the answer short "I guess...i'm looking for someone who would support my dreams and give as much to the relationship as I gave"

Darren gave her a quizzical look and quickly asked "what is your dream?"

It was a question she had been asked many times in her life and every time she told someone their response was always the same "I want to be a police officer in Zootopia"

Darren's eyes had widened in size as he focused on the road as he was now entering the town centre of BunnyBurrow. Judy thought the rest of the journey would have been in silence but Darren had other ideas and he wasn't being subtle in his intentions

"How many kits do you want?"

At this time Judy was desperate for any type of distraction and thankfully she was given one. Her phone pinged and she quickly retrieved it out of her jeans pocket and noticed she got a Zmail notification. Quickly unlocking the phone she went to her emails and saw that she had a new one from the ZPD. opening it up she read it to herself

 ** _Ms J Hopps_**

 ** _We are inclined to inform you that your application to join the Zootopia Police Academy has been rejected_**

It was evident that this wasn't one of the automated responses as there was no information as to why or a website link but instead it continued

 _ **It has been brought to our attention that you have been sending application forms for the past few months and we have denied everyone so far. I'm sorry to inform you but our decision will not be changed and we will now be ignoring any more application forms that is sent under your name**_

 ** _With kindest regards_**

 ** _Chief Bogo (Chief of Zootopia's Precinct one)_**

It was after she had read the email a second time that the information started to seek in. She had been denied entry again but that wasn't all. She could no longer enrol to her kithood dream. Like many other times that day she felt angry and sad. Sad for obvious reasons and angry because she was denied for one same reason every time, the reason that had come to haunt her at the worst of time: Because she was a bunny.

She wasn't rejected because her criminal record or because she didn't have the necessary grades but because she was born as a bunny. Because to the world she was seen as weak, cute and harmless all because of her size.

Judy could feel a few tears roll down her cheeks but as she caught Darren's gaze she quickly wiped them away. She didn't want to be in anyone's company, she only wanted to be left in her room to cry as much as she wanted knowing that she couldn't do what she had dreamt so much about: making the world a better place.

The rest of the short journey was done in silence until they stepped in the mall when Darren was the first to speak up "Hey, i'll be right back, just got to go in here" he said as he pointed with his thumb towards a cosmetics store. He didn't wait for a response and quickly entered the store and grabbed something that looked like he had done this many times. Being slightly curious Judy adjusted her position to view what he picked up and saw hat it was golden fur dye. _"Well at least I can brag that I know it's not his real colour"_ Judy thought as she tried to lighten the mood for herself.

With little to no second though Judy exited the mall and started the long trek home. When she was sure she was out of sight if Darren tried to follow her she quickly texted him

 **Judy: Sorry but I have to go, I have to leave for Zootopia tomorrow and need to get my stuff packed while also beginning the long process of saying goodbye**

She didn't bother waiting for a response and chose to put her earphones in and just have music on in the background to make the walk a little more bearable

* * *

By the time she arrived home the sun was beginning it's slow descent down. Judy decided to take the scenic route to try and cheer herself up a bit. It had worked a little but wasn't entire useful. She walked into the hopps house and was met with anxious parents.

"How did it go?" they both asked at once until they took in Judy's facial expression. He ears where dropped down on her back and she walk looking at the floor. Before they could ask anymore questions Judy had walked past them and closed the door of her bedroom.

She jumped on her bed and was silently crying into her stuffed teddies and plushies from her past. She was going to fall right then but her phone started to ring the familiar tune of Gazelle's "Try everything". It was Judy's favourite song and would normally cheer her up but it wasn't helping at the current time. The caller ID was one Darren Jummps. Judy took a deep breath before answering

"Hey, listen Darren, i'm really for having to leave you today you but it was nice to talk to you" Judy kept what she said short because she didn't trust her voice to give away the fact that she was crying.

 _"Yeah don't worry about that, it was all my honor"_ Darren said before he took a deep breath and started to talk again _"ok, well i'm about to head to Zootopia right now, i'm thinking of having a look at all the sites and uhhhh..."_ There was another deep breath before he hesitantly continued _"I was wondering if you would like to join?"_

Judy was stunned into silence as what Darren said went through her head. Because she said she was heading to Zootopia in the morning he was trying to spend more time with her and be with her there.

Judy was brought out of her thoughts though as the noise of a dull thud sounded through the phone followed by what sounded like kicking against metal and the ground. As Judy listened intently to try and make sense about it all she heard the kicking stop. Confused, curious and concerned Judy tried to speak to Darren.

"Hello? are you there? is anyone there? Darren? what did you do?" Judy stopped when she heard faint movement over the line "I swear if this is some type of joke i'm not going to be happy..." She had more to say but the sound of metal being hit stopped her

There was more faint movement that got louder for a few seconds before an unrecognisable voice came over the line "I'm sorry" it said "it had to be done" before the line and the phone was dropped. Judy only knew one thing and that is that the voice wasn't Darren's.

Judy quickly moved her phone so she could see what she was doing and she typed in a new number. A number she had to call very few times in her life

A new, friendly voice answered the phone _"Hello This is the BunnyBurrow police what is the problem"_

Judy took a deep breath before she spoke up "I would like to report a crime..."


	4. The Start Of A New Case

**AN:** Feel free to review, follow and favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

Also as a quick message thank you to Combat Engineer for the reviews of the last two chapters. Found myself laughing a bit too much over your review of chapter 3 and as for your question about chapter 2: Yes, yes he did.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 4: The Start Of A New Case

Nick was patiently waiting in the same chair he sat in just ten months ago. He was waiting for Mr. Big to come out of the door to his right so he could tell the crime boss that he had done what was asked. As he sat in the empty room his eyes began to look around. There were no noticeable changes since his last visit but as his eyes looked at the rug below him, he couldn't help but think if he was sitting on some poor mammals grave.

While these thoughts went through his head, Nick brought his paws up and leaned his cheeks onto them to hold his head up. He didn't stay like this for long however as Nick slowly raised his head and stared at his paws and the claws on the end of them. Thoughts of the bunny he killed entered his mind. The only thing that made Nick feel slightly better was the lack of information he had about the bunny.

He wasn't given a name or any family members, only where he lived and where he worked which turned out to be in the same place. What made it worse for Nick was that he knew that others would be affected. The victims family, friends and even the mammal on the other end of the fox thought about the other mammal who must have heard the events as it happened. Then he remembered what he had done after the kill. He picked up the phone and spoke into it.

His thoughts were cut off as the double doors behind him opened and polar bears started walking into the room. Soon the walls behind him were lined with polar bears and the side door opened and the same bear that carried Mr. Big last time entered with his hands behind his back. He took the seat at the desk and slowly leaned forward resting his elbows on the desk and stared into Nick's emerald eyes.

"Mr. Big is currently unavailable to talk to you but he want me to pass your message to him" The bear spoke with a heavy accent. His voice was unsurprisingly deep and his stare was deadly.

Nick took a deep, shaky breath before speaking "My job is done..." he pause before taking another shaky breath and decided to elaborate further "The bunny is dead" Nick took a risky move and slowly slid of the chair and slowly backed towards the door with the gaze of every bear in the rooms on him and his movements "now if you don't mind, I have to get some sleep before work"

The bear at the desk slowly rose from the chair and put his paws behind his back again and started walking towards the side door he entered from "Of course, we will have Mr. Manchas drive you back to where you was picked up, Mr. Big will inform you if you are needed for anything else" he opened the door and went to step through it before he stepped back and looked at the fox again "Remember if any witnesses talk about it in anyway" he moved one paw to his throat and made an action of running a claw slowly along his neck

Nick's breath got caught in his throat but quickly nodded his head, showing that he understood what was being asked of him. Then all the bears started moving out of the room leaving the fox behind. Releasing his breath Nick slowly walked towards the exit of the manor walked towards the limo with Kevin and Raymond on either side of one of the back doors. When Nick was in sight Kevin climbed in the limo then Raymond watched the fox carefully as he entered. Once Raymond was in, Mr. Manchas started the engine and set out to where Nick was picked up.

* * *

The journey was silent and not quick enough for Nick. The foxed wished he had less time to think about any possible witnesses and what actions would have to be taken. But now the limo had finally reached it's destination, a little down the road of Maintenance Tunnel 6. Where Finnick had taken Nick once they disposed of the body and attempted to get rid of the smell.

Nick was too caught up in his own thoughts and didn't realised that Raymond was waiting for Nick to exit until Kevin had pushed Nick towards the open door. Not wanting to know what would happen if they got anymore angry, Nick quickly exited the vehicle and looked across the road to see Finnick's van. The limo that was currently in his way soon drove off back towards the entrance of the maintenance tunnel. With the noise of the vehicle's engine gone Nick was able to hear the music coming from Nick's van

Shock was the only thing Nick could think of to describe what he was hearing and seeing. His long time badass friend Finnick was listening to Sorry by Justin that he would never get another opportunity like this Nick brought out his phone and went to his camera to record it. While recording the noise he slowly crept up to the vans driver side door where Finnick was sitting with a happy smile on his face.

Nick crouched down just by the door and did a small count down in his head _"3...2...1!"_ on one he quickly jumped up and leaned on the door with his phones camera focused on Finnick "Is that Justin Beaver I hear?" He said in a clear voice with a grin on his face.

Finnick jumped on the spot at the sound of Nick's voice and quickly reached forward to change the song back to his usual rap music. Taking a deep breath he rested in his chair before he turned his head to look at Nick who was leaning against the door clutching his stomach while he laughed. A red blush quickly took over Finnick before he jerked to the other side of the van with his thumb before he spoke trying to show authority in his voice "get in 'fore I drive off without ya"

Nick slowly walked in front of the van, still clutching his stomach and laughing quietly before he got in the passenger seat. Before he had his seat belt on the vehicle was in motion with an annoyed looking Finnick staring out the windshield. Once Nick stopped laughing he started playing with his phone, Finnick took the moment to speak up "If you tell anyone 'bout this, I will bite yo face off" Taking a glance at Nick, Finnick saw a smug smile across his muzzle "i'm not joking, I will actually bite your fucking face off"

Nick raised his head away from his phone and put it away into his back pocket before he looked at Finnick with a smirk across his muzzle "I'm guessing it's too late now to say sorry for putting it on Furbook?" He asked before jumping into the back of the van where his police uniform lay. He quickly reached for his wallet and pulled out his badge and pointed at Finnick taking full advantage of his new job "Remember i'm a cop, wouldn't want to go to jail for assault on an officer now would you?"

Finnick just stared at the badge before turning back to the road "I fucking hate you"

* * *

Once Finnick had taken Nick to precinct one and quickly drove off without a second to spare Nick slowly walked into the building. While he was on time he would have preferred to be early but the wait to talk about the bunny at Mr. Big's house was longer than anticipated. Quickly making his way into the bullpen he was greeted with the sight of a polar bear and a tiger having an arm wrestle with a crowd watching closely, a group that consisted of two wolfs and an elephant playing some type of card game and a few officers sitting in there seats minding their own business

Nick walked up to his seat and pulled his phone out again and looked at the comments of his video of Finnick singing. There were multiple comments from both Nick's family and some of Finnick's family. Nick snickered every now and then as he read comments but when he came across Finnick's sister's comment he struggled not to laugh out loud.

 **Kaitlyn Lister:  
If you think this is funny you should hear him try to singing at Christmas**

It wasn't so much the comment but the thought of Finnick trying to sing Christmas songs that almost caused Nick to laugh. As he was about to continue scrolling the comments, he heard the side door open and saw the Chief enter the room with a annoyed expression on his face. As the bangs of hooves and paws against tables entered the foxes ears he pocketed his phone and watched the buffalo walk towards the podium.

 **"EVERYONE SHUT IT!"** He shouted and all the noise stopped instantly and everyone took their seats and made no noise.

The authority in the chiefs voice only made it clearer to Nick that the chief wasn't in a good mood. The room was left in silence as the chief looked at the folder in his hands and seemed to read over the front multiple times. Bogo took a deep breath before speaking somewhat calmly "If you are on a case, please leave the room and continue on it" The buffalo leaned his head on the podium and closed his eyes waiting for the noise to die down.

When the noise did die down to silence the chief raised his head and scanned the room before making eyes contact with Nick, the only officer left in the room. "You have got to be kidding me" The chief said before leaning his head against the podium again.

Nick chose to stay quiet not wanting to be giving parking duty again. As he looked at the buffalo his eyes were attracted towards the small folder in his hands and there was a little bit of hope that entered the fox _"Maybe I might get a chase and get to do actually fun work"_

Chief Bogo raised his head and walked in front of the fox "Listen here fox" he said as he spat out the last word "I don't like you and I don't want to give this file to you since you're sadly the only person left in this room that doesn't have work to do I have to give it to you" He said before he dropped the file in front of Nick and started to leave the room but turned to look at Nick "Don't screw this up" but inside he was thinking _"Please screw up, please give me a reason to fire you on the spot"_

Once Nick was left to himself he slowly opened the file up and read the title at the top

 **Zootopia Police Department**

 **Missing Mammal Report**

 _"Ok this is defiantly a new case, this is going to be fun"_ Nick thought before his eyes saw the picture of the mammal he was now looking for on the left. The mammal in question was the same one he had to kill. _"What? I could of sworn there was no one there except Finnick and..."_ Nick's eyes widened and he brought a paw up to his face and slapped his forehead _"...and who ever was on the other end of the phone"_ Reluctantly Nick continued to read the rest of the information

 **Name: Darren Jummps  
Height:(See BunnyBurrow Police for Info)  
Weight:(See BunnyBurrow Police for Info)  
Species:Bunny/Rabbit (Lagomorpha)  
Address:(See BunnyBurrow Police for Info)  
Occupation:(See BunnyBurrow Police for Info)**

 _"Is there anything I don't have to see the BunnyBurrow police about?"_ Nick asked himself "Well if you don't live in Zootopia apparently we don't have record of you" he spoke out loud knowing no one would hear him before he continued reading

 **Additional Notes: Missing Mammal possibly Kidnapped and/or murdered  
Leads:Judy Hopps  
Witness:Judy Hopps  
Evidence:Phone Call**

Nick looked at the last know sighting and it appeared to be a security camera of a mall or shopping centre showing him in a line to a register in a store. He looked at the picture for a while before looking at the only other name on the sheet. _"Judy Hopps, let's go see what you know"_ Nick thought to himself as he slowly exited the bullpen and approached the front desk. Once he was there he opened the file to make it look like he was in a hurry.

"Hey Spots, could I have keys please" he asked to Clawhauser as the cheetah picked up a doughnut. It was a little know fact that Nick could drive a car. It wasn't even a fact that Finnick knew because it would stop their banter during journeys. The only mammals who did know of this fact where the mammals of the ZPD.

Clawhauser reached under his desk and pulled out a set of keys to the smallest cruiser they had "I'm sorry but the smallest cruiser we have is for a small wolf but it shouldn't be that difficult for you" Clawhauser stated before handing Nick the keys and noticing the file in his hands and letting out an excited noise "have you got a case on your second day?"

Nick just smirked at the cheetahs enthusiasm before he took the keys and started walking towards where the cruisers where kept before he spoke over his shoulder "Yes I do spots, I would like to stay and chat but I have to get going" he half lied because while he did have to get going, he didn't want to stay and chat with the overly friendly officer.

When he entered the cruiser he closed the file and leaned back into his seat "Ok so, go to the BunnyBurrow police and get the missing information while also getting the address of Judy whatever her name was, get her address and question her before doing what Mr. Big would want" he said out loud before looking around the cruiser he was in to look if anyone had heard him, thankfully no one was near. Letting out a deep breath "Today is going to be a long day"

* * *

Throughout the long ride to BunnyBurrow Nick went through his thoughts. Most were about the witness that he would now have to kill and how he would do it. He went through ideas left, right and centre but in the end planned on simply using a tranquilliser that would be too much for her and kill her on impact. While he didn't want to do it much like before he knew he had to in order for himself to live

Nick was pulled out of his thoughts as he arrived at the BunnyBurrow Police Station, it was small compared to the one in Zootopia. When he entered he was greeted with an almost empty lobby, the only exception being himself and a black sheep at the reception desk. Slowly walking up to the desk, Nick noticed that like Clawhauser this sheep was overweight _"Is it a thing with police and hiring overweight mammals at the front desk?"_ Nick questioned himself in his head.

Before Nick had the opportunity to speak the sheep spoke in a enthusiastic voice "Hi my name is Baaarry Cant, how can I help you today?"

"uhhh yeah i'm Officer Wilde from Zootopia, I was given a case about a missing mammal by the name of Darren Jummps" he took a moment to pause but continued talking "I was told that you needed help since you haven't had to experience like this before and asked if the ZPD could spare anyone, but anyway here I am and i'm missing some information on our dear bunny so could you help me fill it in please?"

The sheep quickly straightened his back and started typing on his computer "ohhh sure thing, you know we haven't had a crime like this is a couple years, I'm sure you get these types of stuff a lot in the big city, ohh what is it like there? are there a lot of sheep? what about Bunnies, your sure to see a lot of them here..."

Everything being said by the sheep quickly changed into background noise as Nick found it impossible to see the similarities between the sheep and Clawhauser _"So to work at the front desk of a police office I must be overweight, overly enthusiastic, chatty and talk about anything other than the task at hand, I'm glad Mr. Big didn't want me at the front desk"_ Nick thought to himself but was brought out of his thoughts as the sheep turned the computer monitor around to face him. On screen was a picture of Darren Jummps with all the information anyone could ever need to know about him.

"Here you go, everything we have on the system about one Darren Jummps, it's a shame that he went missing..." once again the sheep continued to talk and was ignored by Nick as he wrote the necessary information that was missing with a pen he found in the cruiser. When he finished writing the information he raised his head to look at Barry and spoke once the sheep took a moment to breath.

"One more thing, could you get me the address of one Judy...Judy...Judy..." Nick quickly looked down at the sheet of paper and looked at the name of the witness' and leads "Hopps, Judy Hopps, could I have her address please" Nick was happy to see that the sheep made no objection and started type the name in before turning the monitor around just as quickly. Showing a picture of Judy Hopps and all the information on her.

Instead of writing it all down Nick quickly brought out his phone and once his camera was in focus he took a picture off all the information "Thanks for the help Barry" Nick said as he started to leave

"No problem officer it's nice to help someone in the same prof-" The sheeps noise was muted as the door closed behind the fox. Nick looked at the picture of Judy as he walked towards his cruiser  
 _"huh she's kind of cute for a bunny"  
"Isn't there something about bunnies being called cute by other mammals and hating it?" _Nick questioned himself before speaking out loud "ohh well, no one heard it and it is kind of true, I mean those eyes" As he said this he stared into the eyes of the bunny in the picture before he realised what he was doing and shook his head and started the journey toward her house to question her.

* * *

When Nick arrived at the Hopps house the sun was starting to set. He was hopping that who he was looking for wouldn't be sleeping as he would defiantly feel awkward. Getting out the cruiser and slowly walking towards the front door he looked at the size of the house. If the size of it was anything to go by then the old saying of Bunnies being good at multiplying was true.

Knocking on the door lightly he heard the noise of dozens of feet running from somewhere to where Nick presumed was the door. Nick just stood casually outside the door. His ears flicked when he heard a gasp from the other side of a door and a muffled "it's a fox" before the noise of a dozen of feet was heared again, this time getting quieter and quieter

 _"Yay! I'm working with a speciest family, just my luck"_ Nick thought before he knocked on the door lightly again.

He waited for a few seconds before the door swung open and revealed a white bunny. There was midnight black fur under the bunnies chin that trailed under her shirt. The same black fur was at the tip of her ears, hands and nose. The bunnies nose twitched slightly as she studied the fox. After a couple moments of awkward silence the bunny spoke up in a slightly seductive and teasing tone "So foxy, what you doing trying to enter my families burrow?"

 _"Even better, one of them likes to flirt, what else is going to happen, the mammal i'm her to talk to is scared of me?"_ Nick thought to himself before he spoke up "I'm Officer Wilde of ZPD precinct one, I'm here to talk to a Judy Hopps about confidential police business" He chose to stick to professional behaviour over his snark, no matter how much he wanted to let it loose

"Well, I suspect you live up to your name if you get what I mean" The bunny said in the same tone of voice "I'm afraid Judy isn't in right now but if you want you can talk to me while you wait"

Nick's eyes widened as the bunny walked forwards and went to grab one of his paws until there was a yell that cause both Nick's and the bunnies head to turn "Ellie! what on earth do you think your doing?". While Nick couldn't see who had exactly saved him he was thankful non the less.

"Judy! so nice of you to join us, me and officer Wilde" Ellie quickly turned her head to Nick before whispering "it is Wilde right?" before turning back to Judy without a reply from Nick "were just getting to know each other"

"Trust me Ellie, no body want to get to know you and you should of heard his name with those ears of yours, you should of also heard that he washer to talk to me about police business that i'm sure is confidential so if you don't mind could you please go away"

"boo, your no fun" Ellie said while sticking her tongue out at Judy before turning back to Nick "later foxy" she said in the teasing voice she used before Judy came and added a wink which only made the fox even more uncomfortable.

Thankfully Ellie retreated back into the house and a grey and white bunny, Judy came to the door looking in the direction her sister went while speaking "sorry about her, she flirts with just about anyone, but anyway how can I...help...you officer" She voice trailed off as she turned her head and for the first time saw Nick. Her nose started twitching madly before she brought a paw up and placed it on her nose

 _"Great the mammal i'm here to talk to IS scared of me"_ Nick thought as he noticed the bunnies nose twitch at the sight of him. Trying to stay professional Nick took a a breath before talking "I'm here to talk about the disappearance of a Darren Jummps and I have been informed that you may be able to answer some questions I have" Nick took another breath and brought out a pen and book of A4 paper out from behind his back that he found in the cruisers glove compartment. "Is there anywhere private we can go where we won't be disturbed?" Nick asked but only after he said did he realise how weird it may sound to some one.

 _"I have heard that voice before"_ Judy thought to herself _"But where?"_ Deciding to try and figure that out later Judy thought for a second at the question he had asked, quickly thinking of rooms they could go to where the likes of Ellie or anyone won't disturb them. The only room she could think of though was her bedroom. After a short time thinking about letting the fox into her bedroom room Judy had reluctantly started walking towards it "Y-yeah follow me"

The fear in her voice was obvious to Nick and it was only backed up as her nose twitched whenever her paws weren't on it. Nick quickly steeped inside and closed the door behind before following Judy. As he walked down hallway after hallway he heard hushed whispers but wasn't able to make out what was being said but he did hear the same few words multiple times

 _"Fox"  
_ _"Darren"  
"Date"  
"Judy"  
"Murderer"  
"Killer"_

Nick thought over the last few words, because Judy was the last to see Darren and was currently being followed by a cop, her family thought of her as a murderer and thought that she killed him. Nick couldn't help but feel sorry for Judy, she was being labeld falsely and he knew it, he knew it because he was the one to kill Darren and not Judy.

Nick wasn't the only one to hear these word though. Judy could feel her heart breaking slightly at her families thoughts. _"How could my family think I murdered someone?"_ she thought. She knew she was innocent because she heard him be taken. She wanted nothing more than to play the phone calls events to her family to prove it wasn't her but it was now evidence that would be disclosed as apart of the case.

After a few more hallways and more hushed whispers she opened the door to her room and fell face first onto her bed, burying her bead in her pillow as she let tears fall across her face. As the fox entered he closed the door behind him and slowly pulled a chair out from the desk and brought it towards her bed. He let her have her moment, knowing that it would be better to let it out then bottle it up.

Once Judy seemed to calm Nick spoke in a calm voice "You heard what they said didn't you?" He asked, The bunny had all his focus, if he wanted to get answers fro something he wanted to appear to know nothing about than he would want the person he was talking to be calm. He also knew the reason. He saw her ears turn towards the whispers as they walked past and he knew that bunnies generally had better hearing than foxes.

Judy only nodded her head in her pillow before sitting up and whipping her eyes. She lowered her head and looked at the floor "I'm sorry, I just...I just don't know why they would think I would do that"

After thinking whether or not to ask the questions now or wait a little longer,Nick chose to ask if she was ready to talk "Do you need a minute or are you fine to answer the questions now?"

When the bunny rose her head to look at the foxes emerald eyes her nose began to twitch even more, taking a few deep breaths through her mouth she whispered "I'm ready"before raising her voice again in case the fox didn't hear her "I'm ready for the question"


	5. Family Problems

**AN:** Feel free to leave a Review, Favourite and Follow. I am also open to PMs if you wish to contacts me that way

Thank you to everyone who has viewed, Favorited, followed or reviewed this story so far. On Sunday 8th October this story had passed over 1,000 views. While this is such a small number in comparison to big fanfic writers I can't help but feel a bit of pride swell up inside me. I don't know if 1,000 views in 2 weeks and 4 chapters is good for a first time write but it is good for me.

Also as a quick note I like to think of the Hopps household as an actual house that you would see these days while I will refer to it as a burrow

 **Reviews**

 **Combat Engineer:** Thank you for staying loyal and leaving a review almost instantly for every chapter I post, things just seems to get worse for Judy

 **Toons Girl:** Thank you for your kind words, I hope you continue to like the story. As for Darren's phone I went with the idea of better/more sensitive hearing for them to be able to hear each other.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 5: Family Problems

Staring into the amethyst pools of Judy's eyes as she slowly raised her head muttering under her breath before she was staring into the emerald gaze of Nick "I'm ready for the questions" she said with a shaky voice.

Despite not asking anything Nick could already tell that this would be emotionally draining for the young doe. Taking his gaze from hers to look at the book of A4 paper with some questions already wrote on with some space between each one to write the answer.

"Ok, first question is nice and easy, when was the last time you saw Darren?"

"Day of his disappearance, a couple hours before he called me and before I informed the police" Judy said as she backed herself against the wall by her bed trying to get in a more comfortable position _"Who knows how long this will take, might as well be comfy during this whole ordeal"_ she thought as she watched the fox adjust his position so he was both comfy and able to write her answer.

Settling with resting the ankle of his right let jest above the knee of his left leg and placing the book of A4 paper against his calf, Nick quickly wrote the bunnies answer down while he asked the next question "What was your relationship to Darren?". His head slowly raising to look at Judy as his pen floated just above his paper.

Taking a moment to think of how to answer this suddenly hard to answer question. _"We were no more than accomplices, I wouldn't even say friend but my parents saw him as a mate for me"_ Going over her thoughts multiple times Judy finally settled for the middle ground between the two thoughts "He was a... a family friend"

There was a hint of fear in her voice that was picked up by Nick. Raising his head he noticed Judy staring at his paws as they continued to write with having to look at the paper. Her nose was twitching rapidly and she seemed deep in thought. He knew this was a bad idea as soon as they first laid eyes upon each other, with how rapid her nose twitched, much like it did now only it was a little calmer. He was tempted to just pull his tranquilliser out and shoot her while she was distracted but decided against it for two reasons.

One being that she was staring at his paws and would notice when he reached for his tranq and aim it at her. The second reason being that he was in a burrow full of bunnies and they could hear it. _"Plus I would have to somehow carry her out of her to the cruiser then suddenly drive off without an explanation"_ He sighed internally _"I thought being a cop would make this easier"_

Clearing his throat with one of his paws held up to his maw Nick offered a weak smile before continuing "You uhh...you said how you saw Darren earlier in the day before he disappeared, would you be able to tell me what happened?" he asked before adding "In as much detail as you can remember"

Judy's eyes followed his paw as it was raised to his mouth as her eyes widened even more and her started twitching faster than it ever did before at the sight of his fangs. Suddenly feeling claustrophobic in her bedroom with her natural predator as he gave her a smile, she tried to back away only to find the wall already against her back stopping her from moving anywhere at all. Her ears perked up as she heard him talk before he had proceeded with his questions. Feeling slightly embarrassed for not hearing the foxes question as she raised her head to meet his curious gaze. Nose twitching even faster somehow Judy went to speak but found her throat dry. Clearing it multiple times all she was able to offer was a weak "I'm sorry could you repeat?"

Sighing Nick ignored the does own question and reached for his pocket where he had placed his phone. Pulling it out to look at the lock screen before he sighed again "Look I can tell your uncomfortable" Nick began as he rose from the chair "Whether it be because of the topic at hand or because i'm a fox" he said as he held a paw to his chest _"The latter is defiantly the reason why"_ he thought before quickly continuing "we can continue tomorrow but for now, get some rest I can tell it's something you haven't had for a while" as he talked Nick slowly made his way towards the door before his ears perked at the does weak sounding voice.

"Tha...Thank you officer" Judy simply stated as she slowly lowered herself until she was laying down on her bed, surrounded by her bunny teddies and plushies.

Nick slowly turned around to look at Judy, her nose still twitching and the fear still in her voice but he could tell she was trying to have some control over it "Please I don't think it's fair if you have to constantly address me as 'officer'" he said before hesitating the rest of his sentence "please just call me Nick"

Turning back to the door he reached for the handle before he heard Judy's voice call to him again "Ohhh Nick, one more thing" she paused as Nick slowly turned around before she raised her voice slightly "Try not to step on my noisy siblings" Just as Judy finished her sentence the noise of a dozen or so paws running in any direction away from the door was heard to both mammals inside the small room.

Slowly opening the door to see a empty hallway Nick slowly stepped out and turned around before slowly closing the door "thanks for the warning" he said just before the door clicked shut.

Judy was comfortably nuzzled into her pillow with the sky blue quilt with carrots all over it over her small body. She was about to close her eyes and let sleep take her when she saw a bit of paper on the floor that wasn't there before.

Reluctantly getting out of her bed and picking the paper up she noticed it was plain and only had words written on it. The first word she saw was actually a name _"Nicky"._ Upon seeing the name she quickly closed the paper up and placed it on her desk "I can't read that" she said quietly to herself.

Slowly walking back to her bed she turned and looked at the paper again. Unknown to her, one of her paws was reaching out towards it before she quickly yanked it back and jumped into her bed "I can't read Nick's stuff, I might be confidential"

* * *

 _"Why is this happening"_ Nick thought as he left the hopps house and entered his cruiser. He was thankful for parking it on the opposite end of the road from the entrance to the house as it gave him some space to walk and let the fresh air run through his fur. He just sat in the drivers seat before he let his head fall onto the steering wheel.

"What happened in there?" Nick questioned himself before he raised his head and started to respond to himself "Ohhh I know, You have somehow become too attached to this bunny and can't pull yourself to pull the trigger"

 _"It's a good thing I didn't though because all of her sibling where outside the door and I SOMEHOW missed that bit of info"_ The fox groaned to himself as he let his head fall onto the steering wheel again before quickly bringing it back up with his paws to his head

"Ok that hurt, that was a bad idea" he said with a groan. Slowly moving his paws away he was thankful he didn't see any blood on his pads. Feeling his eyelids grow heavy he reluctantly groaned and slid down in the seat to curl himself up into a ball with the tip of his tail resting in front of his snout.

As he lay there he let his thoughts wander as he hoped sleep would take him. He was unable to sleep every since his encounter with Darren as when ever he closed his mind images of the bunny popped into his head and haunted him.

As he closed his eyes this time his mind was filled with images of a different bunny, one with a deep inviting purple gaze. Nick's eyes shot open and he raised his head but the rest of his body refused to move.

"wha...why..." he wanted to question himself but couldn't find himself to finish his his head fall back down and using his tail to hide himself like a kit.

 _"Why am I so attached to her?"_ He questioned himself before another thought entered his mind and reminded him of why he was in this situation _"It doesn't matter, shes going to die soon"_

With that thought he closed his eyes again and hoped for sleep to take him away from his current thoughts.

* * *

Judy woke from her sleep at the sound of a knock on her door. Slowly opening her eyes to take in her surroundings which didn't take long as it was the same surroundings that always greeted her when she woke up. Slowly getting out of her bed she walked to her mirror, grabbing her brush on the way. She was disgusted at herself as her from entered the mirror. Not because of the state of her fur but because she had been so enticed in her dream that she had fallen asleep with all her clothes on.

What was strange to Judy was that she couldn't remember much about her dream except the colours of emerald green and a russet red. Brought out of her thoughts by another knock on the door, Judy started to brush and groom her fur as she called out to whoever was on the other end of the door "who is it?"

"Only the best sibling in the world" came a muffled response from the door. Judy paused what she was doing as the brush in her paw fell to the floor in front of her desk before she let her head fall onto said desk.

Slowly pulling her head back up she responded to 'the best sibling in the world' "what do you want Ellie?". Judy was left waiting for a response for a few moments, during this time she went to picking up her brush and discarding her now sweating clothes.

Just as she took off her shirt and pants the handle to her door started moving as Ellie spoke up, her voice now clearer "Ohhh nothing to do with you, don't worry". Judy quickly jumped back to her bed and pulled at the quilt to cover her almost naked body

"Then what are you doing in here?" Judy questioned trying to fight the embarrassment she was feeling thanks to her sister barging in without permission

Ellie looked over to Judy with a playful grin on her face as she quickly scanned around the room before her eyes settled on a lump in the quilt next to Judy "Ohhhh nothing, I'm just looking for officer foxy" she said as she slowly crept towards the bed "and...it seems that I...have...found him" Ellie said only to jump onto the lump to find it fall under her.

A small grin came onto Judy's face as she saw how disappointed Ellie looked "no, I don't think you have" Judy said before pointing towards her now wide open door "now get out before I actually kick you out" at the end of her sentence Judy started to preposition herself so her feet where aimed at her older sisters chest.

Ellie immediately jumped off the bed and made her way to the door, knowing how stiff a kick from Judy can be "you can't hide Officer Foxy from me forever" Ellie called as she closed the door

"His name is Officer Wilde!" Judy called as she heard Ellie walk away

After laying in her bed for another few moments to find if anyone else was going to enter her room. Once Judy had given herself the all clear she got out of her bed and went back to the brush to sort her fur out again. As she picked the brush up her eyes laid upon the letter to Nick _"I should really give that back to him, don't want anyone like Ellie reading whatever it is"_

Once Judy was satisfied with her fur, Judy turned towards her closet and pulling out a dark red long sleeve shirt and black jeans and quickly got changed into them and headed towards the kitchen, presuming that Nick would be there having breakfast provided by her mother: Bonnie Hopps

As Judy arrived in the kitchen she was slightly surprised to see no sign of the fox anywhere. Bonnie however was in the kitchen so Judy slowly walked up to her and lightly tapped Bonnie on the shoulder to get her attention and started talking before her mother had a chance "Mom, do you know where Nick is?"

Judy didn't even realised that she had referred to the fox by his name until it was too late and her mother was questioning her on it "Nick? Do you mean that fox? That fox that is somehow a cop? and before you none the less"

Having to think of a response quick on her feet Judy stammered initially before finally thinking of a response that was both a truth and a lie "uhhh yeah Nick Wilde, he told me his name to uhh...make it more comfortable during his questions last night, works wonders like I always tell you, get to know who your talking to and it's easier to open up to them"

Bonnie's response to this was just a simple nod of the head until she answered her daughters question after some pause "No I don't know where he is, why don't you go and help your brothers and sisters until he appears" Bonnie suggested before she stepped even closer to Judy as she whispered "But next time you go somewhere with him alone please take the taser, or something at least"

Judy was shocked at what her mother was saying, while she would expect something like this come from her father she would never expect Bonnie to be this speciest especially when the victim is a trained cop. Giving no response to Bonnie, Judy just walked off towards the front door and left to head towards the back garden that way.

Her plan though was soon changed as she spotted a police cruiser parked across the road. Slowly walking down the dirt path that lead to the front door she didn't move her eyes away from the cruiser. Crossing the street until she was at the driver side door of the cruiser Judy jumped up and grabbed the handle and pulled the door open slightly.

Landing back on the ground Judy pulled the door open enough for her to climb in. What she saw in the cruiser was something she could not prepare for. Curled up on the drivers seat was a peaceful looking sleeping fox with his snout hidden by the tip of his tail which swayed side to side slowly. Judy found the site oddly cute and could barely hold in the squeal at something that looked so dangerous to her the night before look so calm and comforting.

Quickly pulling her phone out Judy took a picture of the sleeping fox before adjusting herself and taking a selfie with the fox. Once Judy had taken a few more pictures and put her phone away a thought flowed through her mind _"Why was I scared of him last night?"_ she thought about this for a while until the fox beside he stirred and ended up putting his muzzle across her lap.

Quickly taking her phone out again, Judy took a few more pictures of the fox in his new position. As she scrolled through her new pictures she didn't realise how her free paw had gone to the top of the foxes head and started to slowly move her paw down his body. As her paw came back to the top of his head, Nick's maw opened wide and his teeth shined in the sun that was coming through window of the driver side door.

Once again Judy felt fear envelop her at the sight of the foxes teeth _"Ohhh yeah that's why"_ Judy thought as Nick slowly opened his eyes to look into Judy's. Taking a deep breath before she talked to get control of her voice Judy spoke quietly "Morning sleepy fox"

As Nick slowly came out of his dream of purple and grey he opened his eyes to see the purple eyes that had come to haunt him of a small grey furred mammal. Blinking multiple times, expecting her to disappear he was shocked when the mammal stayed "Carrots?"

"Carrot?" Judy asked in confusion "Never heard that one before"

Slowly rising so he was next to Judy he brought his paws up to his eyes and started rubbing them while speaking "Uhhhh yeah sorry, just a fox thing really, you probably won't understand, no offence and all"

Judy stayed silent for a while trying to think of something to say until she decided on the reason she wanted to find Nick "Can we uhh...can we continue with the questions?" Judy asked before adding a weak "please"

Nick just grinned at how eager Judy seemed all of a sudden "sure, let me just get my paper" he said as he started to stand and reach into the glove compartment where he had originally found the pen and paper. "Ok so, same question as where we left off last night" he said before taking a pause and continuing "Could you please describe in detail your last face-to-face encounter with Darren?"

Judy took a deep breath, only feeling slightly scared and nervous compared to the previous night. She quickly went into detail about she was forced upon a date by her parent and how she had left it before it began. However she did not give the reason why stating that it was a "family emergency" when Nick had asked. Judging by his reaction Nick didn't buy it one bit but he made no objection and that was enough for Judy to count as a success.

Nick had followed up her account of the meeting with small follow-up questions based on how Darren had acted or if anyone seemed to follow them. Despite the fact he knew it was pointless to question Judy at all given that he already knew the cause behind the disappearance.

Once all the question on the face-to-face encounter with Darren was finished Nick pulled out the file he was given at precinct one that held the detail he was given. "It says here that there is a phone call that could be used as evidence" he stated giving the file a quick look

"Yeah that is when Darren called me and he was taken or murdered, I still don't know what to call this whole thing" Judy admitted "But I guess since there has been no body found that this is currently labled as a 'Missing Mammal Case'"

Nick gave Judy a look of surprise before collecting his cool and questioning Judy "and how do you know that no body has been found?"

Judy just looked at Nick with a grin across her face before saying "because if there was one found you wouldn't be here, you would be where ever it is"

Nick was stunned into silence at how much the bunny knew about police protocol, which was shamefully probably more than he knew "well look at you junior detective" Nick started before he leaned back and crossed his arms against his chest "you know I think you would make a pretty good cop" he stated

"yeah...sure" Judy said before quietly mumbling something under her breath that the fox couldn't hear. What he could see though was how quickly the bunnies mood changed. Her nose twitching slightly though no more than what it already was during the questions he had asked but he was able to ignore it and see past it to continue.

"What's wrong Carrots?"

Judy's ears sprung up as she heard Nick talk "Nothing, nothings wrong, everything fine, perfect even I just..." Judy's mind came up blank as she tried to quickly think of an excuse as to why he attitude would change "I...I...I just forgot my phone in my bedroom and I thought if you want to hear it as evidence then we would have to go get it"

Nick didn't buy anything she just said as it was obvious something was bothering her but he chose not to pursue the subject...just yet anyway. "That would be a good idea fluff" Nick said as he stood up and opened the cruisers door and waved his hand around dramatically "lead the way"

Judy shook her head as she got up from sitting herself and jumped out the cruiser "thanks slick"

"slick?" Nick questioned as he got out the cruiser himself "is that your attempt at payback for calling you Carrots?"

Judy gave Nick no answer as they walked towards the front door when she stopped still again "cheese and crackers" she muttered as she turned to see Nick giving her a quizzical look

"what's wrong now?"

Judy took a deep breath and started to explain the predicament about her parents"My parents didn't like that we were alone and I was not 'protected'" she had emphasised the word protected along with air quotations with her paws "from you because your...because your a fox" she said in a low whisper before suddenly picking up volume in her voice again "I'm sorry for the way they think, I wish I could change their mind but they were raised like that so it probably woul-" she was cut off as Nick held a digit to her mouth with his claw mere inches away from her her twitching nose

"No need to fear Carrots" he stated calmly before stepping to one side of the house "for somethings about us foxes are true" he said before walking forward and stopping just under a open window that was a few stories above, Judy silently followed behind him, wanting to find out what he was doing "For we are intelligent and skillful mammals" he stated as he grabbed onto a pipe that was situated a little bit away from where he once stood "watch and learn"

Nick started to climb up the pipe looking for where the open window was every now and then. Judy just stood and watched as the uniformed fox went higher than his intended goal, not missing the opportunity to tease Judy called up to him "I thought you said you was intelligent"

Without warning Nick had pushed off the pipe and turned slightly as he lowered down towards the window sill. Landing slightly off footed he extended his arm to regain balance and lowered down to open the window even more before climbing in. Nick leaned his head out the window and called out to the stunned doe "Nice room you have here Carrots"

Judy's eyes just widened and she found herself smiling slightly as she didn't even know that that was the window to her room. "You crafty little fox" she said as she took the easier route and walked through the house to her own room.

Nick stood in Judy's room and for the first time actually looked around it. The hardest thing to miss was all the ZPD posters hanging on the walls. Whether they were designed to motivate people to enroll or just a picture of one of the officers posing it was hung on her wall.

Nick found himself staring at one poster in particular. It was a poster of some old officers standing in a line ranging in size outside the precinct with a few words underneath that read "Anyone can be anything"

He must have stared at it for a while as Judy came bursting through the door, before he had a chance to talk however Judy cut him off "i'm sorry I took forever, my parents wanted a quick talk with me"

"Thats fine" Nick said as he brought his eyes from the posters back to Judy as she made her way towards her bed "call me crazy, but I think someone has some ideas about a certain job they want to do"

Judy lowered her head as she heard the fox talk. Once he finished Judy just murmured under her breath "It's just a stupid dream, not like it's ever going to happen"

Judy didn't think Nick would be able to hear her but when she raised her head slightly so she was able to see the fox. His ears were raised and he had a confused look on his face. Opening his mouth to talk but he stammered for a while before finally finding his voice "what?" It was more of a rhetorical question since he already heard her and Judy had the suspicion that he heard her murmur but she chose to answer anyway

"It's just a dream from when I was 9" as she left the end of her sentence hang in the air, Judy could feel a few tears rolling down her cheek as she thought about her dream job and how it was even more impossible for her to achieve "It's not like a bunny could ever become a cop"

Nick didn't even take a second to full take in what Judy was saying before he walked towards her desk and started opening her laptop ad turning it on "nonsense, here if I remember correctly there should be a way to fill out a application form online somewhere"

Judy quickly jumped off her bed towards her desk and picked the laptop up, closed it and put it against her back as she looked up into the confused gaze of Nick. Judy lowered her head as she suddenly felt vulnerable and weak as her nose twitched rapidly and her legs started to shake slightly "there is no need for that" she said weakly before adding in a quiet voice "I now my role to society"

Nick's confusion turned to anger as he heard the last part of what Judy "hold, hold on for a second" he said as he stood from the chair and walked up to Judy looking down at her "so just because your a bunny, your not going to go after your dream" Nick said raising his voice the longer he talked until he was shouting "to do what? just have a massive family of a few dozen kits"

Judy felt the urge to run away from the angry predatory standing in front of her and curl into a ball but she managed to stand her ground on very shaky legs. She was about to talk when Nick cut her off.

"I'm not finished!" he said in the same angry and loud voice "So instead of being different and unique you just want to be the same as everyone of your sibling, no wait hold on, you would be the same as every other Bunny in this whole city"

Judy just lowered her head, knowing that even if she wanted to she wouldn't be any different from any other bunny. She raised her head out of confusion as she heard Nick's voice but it seemed more calm and had a hint of sorrow in it

"Judy" he started somewhat nervously as he crouched in front of the frozen doe. He reached down hesitantly and gabbed a hold of each on of her paws in his own before he spoke up again "I may have met you less than 24 hours ago but I can tell you are a very intelligent mammal and you deserve a better life than that of a stereotypical bunny"

Judy was surprised at how fast Nick had changed from angry to calm. She raised her head slowly to see a inviting emerald gaze. Opening her mouth to try and talk, Judy couldn't find any words to say so she just settled with a weak smile with a quiet and equally as weak "thank you Nick"

"Judy, I may be a fox but..." He was quickly cut off as he yanked his paws away from Judy's and his whole body started to shake violently until he fell to the floor with a dull thud.

He had remained there not making any movement except a slower than usual rise and fall of his chest. Judy diverted her eyes up to see her father standing just behind the downed fox. Her mother and some of her sibling were at the door looking into it with looks of shock and fear on her face. Judy's eyes turned back briefly towards her father as she saw him shake something in one of his paws as he walked back towards the door and spoke with Ellie who was standing next to Bonnie.

Not paying attention to them as she saw Ellie pass Stu something she couldn't see. Judy turned back to Nick and slowly crouched in front of his and held one of her paws up to his neck searching for a pulse _"Come on there has to be a pulse"_ as Judy continued her search as she dug her hand deeper deeper into the fur of Nick's neck a new though came to her _"Why do I care so much?"_ mentally questioning herself while still searching she was about to find an answer when she felt a slow but steady beat under her paw _"Ohhh thank god he's alive"_

Judy was brought out of her thoughts as she saw a shadow heading in her direction. Raising her head she noticed Stu storming back in her direction. Judy didn't know if he was coming to look at the fox or talk to her but as she noticed what was in his paw, she was disappointed that the situation was far worse.

In Stu's paw there was a pink fox taser and it came clear to Judy why Stu was walking towards her _"He's going to tase Nick again"_ But there was another thought that almost made Judy sick _"Is he trying to kill him?"_

Not willing to take any chances, Judy jumped over Nick's body and walked the short distance towards her father and stood in his way, refusing to move.

"What do you think you're doing?" He questioned, his voice a mix between scared and anger

"I am not going to let you assault an OFFICER of the law anymore that's for sure" Judy said as she emphasised the title of the foxes job. Judy knew that her father could already get a few years in prison if there was any charges pressed and she didn't want it to be any longer than it already could be

"Well I am not going to stand around while that fox" he spat the word out like it was a curse he had been building up to saying "threatens one of my daughters and tries to hurt them"

"Hurt me!?" Judy raised her voice in frustration as that was the last thing the fox was doing "He wasn't trying to hurt me dad, he was just trying to help me"

"How is shouting at you going to make anything better?" Stu questioned raising his own voice "Ellie came her to talk to you but came running to me and you'r mother when she heard that...thing shouting at you"

Judy turned her gaze to Ellie and gave her a murderous look before she spoke "Ohh Miss I want 'Officer Foxy' all to myself suddenly wants him put in hospital or worse dead" she raised her paws into air quotations as she said 'Officer Foxy' before turning her gaze back to her Stu as she spotted a subtly blush rising up her sister "Which is what would happen if you tase him anymore, his pulse is already weak since you used the taser on him already, plus the fact that he needs to go to the hospital because you used the taser for too long and on a high charge" Judy said as she pointed at the taser

Stu attempted to step past Judy but was stopped as she stepped into his way again. This continued for a while until Stu spoke up suddenly and raised the power of the taser to the max "One dead fox is better than a live one"

Judy was shocked at her fathers words but as able to stay strong and not let Stu get past her. Judy was so focused on not letting anyone get to Nick that she almost missed Bonnie's voice in the background "your in trouble as well Judy, if you had listened to me and took something to use yourself your father wouldn't be here, also how did he get in here?"

Judy ignored Bonnie's question as she quickly reached for the taser in her father's hand and snatched it out of his before pointing it at her threateningly "It's clear that NICK, not the fox, isn't welcomed here and it is also clear that none of you are going to help him by calling an ambulance" Judy took a small pause to watch everyone's reaction before she continued "You will all get out of my way as I take Nick to the front garden where WE will wait for an ambulance"

Judy slowly turned around and wrapped Nick's left arm over the back of her neck before she slowly dragged him towards the door of he room before quickly reaching for the piece of paper with Nick's name, not wanting any of her family to have a hold of it, as she got to the door her siblings moved out the way quickly, not taking the risk of messing with Judy

Since Nick was taller than her and being dragged,it did take a while until Judy was sitting on the front step to her house with Nick's head in her lap. Pulling out her phone and dialling 911 and holding the phone up to her ear.

 _"Hello this is BunnyBurrow hospital, what is the reason for your call?"_ A friendly voice called over the phone

"I have a injured officer here at 2814 Farmer's paradise road, he's got a slow pulse and needs an ambulance quickly" Judy stated quickly wanting to get Nick to safety and away from her family

 _"That's fine dear, we'll have an ambulance there as soon as possible"_ The mammal on the other end replied before quickly hanging up.

Pocketing her phone Judy reached for the fox taser that she had placed on the floor to the side of her. Leaning over and picking it up Judy felt the fox on her lap tense at the sight of it and he opened his mouth to talk but Judy cut him off "shhhh relax Nick, i'm not going to do anything to you besides get you somewhere where you can be checked" Judy said before she threw the taser lightly to the other side.

A small chuckle escaped Nick as he heard the device land closely "you throw like a bunny"

"Really Nick?" Judy questioned before reaching for the taser and leaning her arm back until it was touching the door. Then she pushed her arm forward and let go of the taser at a height so Nick could easily see it fly throw the air. Whcich he did until the taser fell somewhere behind the cruiser on the opposite end of the road

Nick swallowed down the small lump in his throat before finally finding word to describe what he witnessed "a very strong bunny" he said before chuckling lightly again "you throw like a very strong bunny"

"Thanks" was all Judy said as she let her left paw fall on top of his head with two of her fingers standing up between his ears while her right brought out her phone and went to her camera. As she turned the camera around she realised that the foxes eyes were half open and half closed staring into the screen of her phone.

"Smile" was all Judy said before she took a picture. As she went back to look at the picture she took she was surprised to see that Nick was smile weakly at the camera, she thought she hadn't given him enough time to react

"really with the fingers Carrots?" Nick smiled even more as he looked at the picture

Judy let her paw absently run through the fur of Nick's head as she looked at the photo "You know you liked it"

Nick closed his eyes as Judy's paw ran over his fur before he let out a sigh "yes, yes I did"


	6. Second Thoughts

**AN:** Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

I know I kind of said this in the last chapter but I am really surprised as to how this little fanfic is coming along and how well it has been received.

 **Quick Note:**

Since this question was asked in most reviews of the previous chapter I thought I would just answer it here instead of writing the same thing for everyone. For those asking for the arrest of Stu, don't worry I have something planned for him.

 **Reviews:**

 **Combat Engineer:** Thank you for the congratulations on passing 1,000 views, as for Stu, you will just have to wait and see.

 **Guest:** Judy sin't a witness to anything but she is an unintended target or Mr. Big's after reporting the death of Darren Jummps.

 **Renegade (Guest):** First I would like to say that I appreciate your honesty about how you found my little fanfic. I'm also glad that my misspelling and misuse of grammar are not so much of a problem for you to stop reading. I could try and make some type of excuse but I know I would just be lying to myself if I said it wasn't my fault. I'm glad that you hate Ellie but just think yourself lucky that you don't have to deal with the real life counterpart everyday like I have to.

 **Toons Girl:** See my quick note about Stu. As for Nick getting Judy into the ZPD, well you're going to be both disappointed and happy.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 6: Second Thoughts

Judy and Nick were still waiting outside the front of the Hopps house. It had been 5 minutes since Judy's phone call to the hospital and after the picture that they took together. During the first couple minutes Judy's ears perked up every few minutes as she heard pawsteps heading towards the door but after she hit the door with her elbow the pawsteps where becoming more distant and harder to hear.

Once the pawsteps stopped coming from the house Nick and Judy just sat with each other waiting for the noise in a comfortable silence. But the thoughts in Judy's head were not comforting in anyway.

 _"Ohhh god what did I just do?"_ She mentally questioned herself _"I just threatened my entire family with a fox taser to protect a fox from his death"_ she quickly answered herself before she piped up with another question _"But why"_ This time she was slower to answer and actually found herself questioning why she saved Nick. _"Well because I don't want to have an officer die in my home let alone my own bedroom, where I sleep every night"._

Judy was hoping that would put an end to her mental debate but it didn't. She kept questioning herself and responding with a random answer but she paid no attention to her thoughts. Instead focusing on her paw that was slowly stroking from in between Nick's ears to the base of his neck before she lifted her paw and placed it back between his ears before repeating the motion.

Lifting her paw but this time placing it at the point of his pulse she was thankful to find that his pulse had increased a little since the last time she checked. Moving her paw back to his head to continue stroking Nick, she didn't know if she was doing it to comfort Nick or to comfort herself.

 _"Maybe the real reason you saved him was because you like him"_

"What!?"

* * *

Nick thoughts were not as crazy as Judy's but they were not organised. _"Did I just die?"_ He found the thought running around his head as he tried to forget about the thought.

All he could remember was a sudden powerful shock enter his body from behind him before he felt himself fall to the floor and his eyes shut. He hadn't heard or seen anything that happened next but when his eyes opened and he was able to take in his surrounding he realised that he was outside with his head resting on someones thighs

Looking up Nick saw Judy as she had her phone up to one of her ears and seemed to be talking frantically into it. Nick didn't know how long she had been on the phone but when Judy put it down and looked into his eyes he felt comfort in that moment. This along with the feeling of her paw running through his fur had almost made him fall asleep in the comfort he felt. Sadly the moment of bliss was short lived when the thought that haunted him entered his mind

 _"I'm going to kill her"_

 _"Maybe there is a way out"_ He thought desperately trying to think of a way out of the situation he was in, the only thought that came to his head though was telling Chief Bogo _"There's no way he would believe me, even if I had evidence"_

After his short conversation with Judy he let his thoughts run around in his head. _"Why do I have to do this?"_ As he mover his head to look towards his cruiser he couldn't help a new thought _"This is the perfect moment"._ When Nick did a quick look of his surrounding he realised that he was right. There was no one near and Judy no longer had to hit the door when her ear perked up when she heard someone moving towards the door.

Slowly moving his right paw that rested aside his head on Judy's thigh down to his waist where his tranquilliser was kept he couldn't help the feeling of guilt and regret quickly entering his body. _"Just don't look, then you won't see how hurt she is"._

"What!?"

Quickly moving his paw away from his tranquilliser he put in the effort to make it look like he was stretching before raising his head to look at Judy "Whats wrong?" he asked feeling shocked at her sudden outburst

Judy looked down at him and her ears dropped behind her out of embarrassment for how she might appear to Nick "Ohh sorry, I was just...Just think of uhh what just happened in there"

Nick could tell by how she stuttered that was not what she was thinking about but his own curiosity got the better of him "What did happen in there?"

Judy opened her mouth to talk but her one of her ears perked up and she turned her head in the direction that it pointed. Nick opened his mouth to ask what was wrong but Judy beat him to the punch "get up slick, I hear sirens"

Nick did as he was told, slowly getting up to his feet. When he went to take a step he started to walk off the dirt path onto the grass as if he was drunk before he started to fall back. Judy was there quickly as she took one of his paws and guided him down the path to the front where Nick sat back down on the floor with his knees up to his chest. He looked up at Judy as he could now hear the sirens get closer and closer "You called the cops?"

Judy just looked in the direction she could hear the sirens as she answered Nick's question "No I called the hospital and asked for an ambulance, It's up to you if you get the cops involved" she said before looking down at Nick with a weak smile "well, anymore cops since there seems to already be one involved"

Nick went to answer but the source of the sirens came into sight and Judy was already walking off towards the sirens. Nick went to stand but was stopped when he heard Judy call over her shoulder "You just stay right there and I'll explain the situation to them" Nick just stayed seated and pulled out his phone _"She helped me, time to help her, make her happy about something before her time comes"_

As Judy and the ambulance came near each other, a hare quickly jumped out. His fur was plain white and he wore a navy blue uniform on that showed where he worked and a name tag hanging from his neck. The hare quickly went to the back of the ambulance and opened the back doors before walking to Judy with a lustful grin on his face.

"Hey beautiful, names Harre and what does a little beauty like you need me for?" He asked in a suggestive tone, clearly not caring that he was meant to do his job

Trying not to get too angry that she was being hit on after what she just went through Judy tried to talk slowly to ease the situation "It's not for me, it's for my friend over their Officer Wilde" She said as she turned around and pointed at the fox who was currently typing on his phone.

Judy started to walk off towards Nick but was stopped when she felt someone grab a hold of her paw. Turning around to see Harre holding her paw and looking her up and down, Judy quickly yanked her paw free and raised her voice "What are you doing!?"

* * *

Hearing Judy's voice being raised, Nick looked in her direction to see her pull her own paw free from a plain white hare who was looking her figure up and down.

"This should be fun" Nick said as he finished typing his message and slowly stood up to walk towards Judy, only know realising how far she had walked. As he walked towards Judy and the Hare he noticed both parties pointing fingers in his direction without looking at him

"So they think I hurt her?" he questioned out loud to himself

"This will be a lot of fun"

* * *

"Ma'am there is a fox right there" the hare spoke in a worried voice as he tried to grab Judy's paw again

"Really?" Judy asked in faux surprise "I never would have guessed that the officer I just watched almost die was a fox" Judy said as her voice rose to a steady shout

"Don't you mean the fox that almost killed you" The hare asked as a statement as he forcibly grabbed Judy's paw and started dragging her to the back of the ambulance

"I think I know what I meant" Judy said as she tried to stay in one spot but was quickly swept off her feet by the hare "Put me down!" she shouted before the hare quickly threw her into the back of the ambulance

Harre quickly jumped in and didn't bother closing the doors before he reached for the bottom of Judy's shirt but was stopped when her grey paws held her shirt down "please, I'm trying to check for any scratches from that fox"

Judy was disgusted from how the hare was acting and stared to wonder if he actually worked in a hospital or if he just stole the ambulance "yeah sure I bet you was 'checking for scratches'" she said as she raised her paws for air quotations

Quickly taking his opportunity the hare raised Judy's shirt over her face and started running his paws through her fur. He looked up to make sure that she wouldn't do anything but was sent flying out of the ambulance as Judy's paw hit him in the nose

"Nice punch" a new voice stated. Judy raised her head to see that Nick was now standing over the downed hare "I heard of the 'horny bunny' stereotype and seen the result of it" he said as he nodded his head towards Judy's home "But I didn't know it extended to hares as well"

Judy just found herself smiling lightly at Nick's humour as she got up and exited the ambulance and walked up to Nick "I thought I told you to stay over there" she said in a voice that was more playful then angry which Nick was thankful for

"Well I saw you raise you'r voice so I thought I would stop you before you did something you would regret but something tells me..." Nick looked down at the hare again who was holding his bleeding nose with both his paws "you don't regret what you did here"

"Hey! If you WAS an officer you should arrest her" harre exclaimed as he watched Nick and Judy walk back towards where they came from.

"The way I see it, you were getting a bit...intimate to say the least and my friend here didn't like that" Nick called over his shoulder before turning around and walking backwards "so it's just self-defence my friend" he said as he gave the hare a two fingered salute before turning around again.

Nick and Judy walked back the way they came from in content silence, both wanting to forget what's happened to them in the short span of less than two days.

"So, what will you do now?" Judy asked as they came to a stop outside her house

Nick looked down at her before he looked around his surrounding before his eyes set on his cruiser "I guess I have to go question the people who were preset at the Jummps house at the time of his disappearance"

"You can't do that" Judy exclaimed loudly before her ears lowered in embarrassment "you...you could hardly stand a few minutes ago I can't let you drive"

"Then why don't you drive for me?" Nick asked casually. He had to suppress his laugh at the shocked look coming from Judy as she stared at him

"I can't do that" she shouted

Nick started to slowly back up towards the cruiser as he continued to speak "and why not Carrots? you said it yourself, I'm in no condition to drive" as he said this he purposefully took a step to his right and made a show of losing his balance before regaining it and continuing "Also as an added extra, I have NO idea where I am going" As his back hit the driver side door of the cruiser, Nick jumped up and opened it before waving his arm towards the seat and facing Judy "You coming or what carrots?"

Judy stood on the spot thinking the idea over, while she wanted to be in her room by herself but she knew that she wouldn't have anytime by herself as her family wouldn't leave her alone. But she also didn't want to get Nick in trouble for letting someone who was untrained drive a police issued cruiser. Without even realising Judy had started walking towards the cruiser and had climbed into the front seat with her seat belt on.

"Hold on!" she again shouted as Nick climber into the passenger seat "How am I meant to drive when this is designed for someone the size of a wolf, you probably struggled getting here"

Nick just smirked and climbed out of his seat and into the driver one with Judy "You focus on on the wheel and where we are going why I will focus on obeying the speed laws"

Judy smiled slightly at the fox before looking forward again and her smile was gone "good plan slick but I can barely see over the dashboard"

Nick just placed his paws on Judy's hips and raised her onto his lap, the little extra height was actually useful for Judy as she could now see over the dash and could see where she was going "what about now?" Nick asked as he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out the keys and handed them to Judy to put in the ignition.

Judy took the keys and looked at them before putting them in and starting the vehicle "perfect, it's just perfect"

* * *

The drive was done in relative silence with the exception of the cruisers engine, other vehicles engines, the quiet radio and for Judy, Nick's slow and steady heartbeat. His heartbeat was harmonic and made it easier for Judy to focus on what she was doing but she also found it comforting enough where she had a feeling that she might fall asleep. But Judy was thankful that it had distracted her enough so that she didn't have to think about recent events.

When they did arrive at the Jummps house, they parked much like they did at Judy's home and Nick just stared at the home _"Probably trying to work out how many people he will have to question"_

"Ok, two things before I go in there, any idea how many people live here?" Nick asked as he reached over and undid the seat belt.

"Absolutely no idea" Judy responded as she turned to look at the house "more than my family though, If I was to guess I would say anywhere between 400 and 500"

Nick visually stiffened as Judy listed her estimate number of people he would have to ask the same questions over and over again. "yeah, that will be fun" he said as picked Judy off his lap and went to the passengers glove compartment where he pulled out his book of paper and pen "Hopefully this is enough" he said which earned him a slight chuckle from Judy

"and thing number two?" Judy asked as she turned on the spot to face Nick

"Number two?" he questioned before he remembered what he was going to ask "ohh yeah, can I hear the phone call between you and Darren please"

Judy went as still as a statue,taken completely off guard by his question. Slowly she reached into her pocket and pulled her phone out and gave Nick a nod and went to play back the phone conversation she had with Darren as Nick wrote down everything that was said or any noise that was made.

Nick stopped dead on his writing when he heard the metal being hit _"Shit, how did I forget I did this"_ trying to stay calm Nick went back to writing the noise of metal being hit and held his breath hoping that his voice was too quiet to be picked up.

His ears twitched when he heard the sound of a faint but clear voice saying the words he remembered clearly now _"I'm sorry, it had to be done"_

Nick quickly wrote it down and looked up at Judy who was staring at the phone as if she was trying to hear the voice more clearer than it was "Thank you for that Carrots, wish me luck" Nick said as calmly as he could before he jumped out the door and went to close the door but stopped when Judy spoke quietly

"Good luck" was all she said but it hit Nick greatly. He closed the door and walked towards the house _"please don't make the connection, please don't listen to it and figure out that's my voice"_ he thought before he though back to what Judy just said. She wished him luck on solving something that he had caused, wished him luck that he would find he did it and put them away, wished that he put himself behind bars.

The fox put his paw in his pocket and pulled out his phone and went to his photo gallery. From there he picked out the photo of Judy's smiling face that he took at the BunnyBurrow Police Station _"I really don't want to do this"_

* * *

Back in the cruiser Judy picked her phone up and put it in her pocket. When her phone was in her pocket she felt her paw come into contact with a piece of paper. Pulling the paper out she recognised it as the one she still needs to give back to Nick. Subconsciously he paws started to unfold the paper and open it up _" Can't be anything too confidential"_ she reasoned with herself.

When it was fully unfolded, Judy noticed typed up writing at the top with a mix of drawing in both pen and pencil taking up the space at the bottom. She looked at each one of the drawing and they all seemed to be the same but some had more detail and bits of red on them. They all featured a fox holding a bunny over one of his shoulders with the foxes paw's coloured red.

Drawing her eyes to the writing she started reading it out loud to herself "Nicky, It's a shame we cannot meet, I trust that you understand how important this is to me, you remember that bunny I told you about?..." Judy paused for a second "hold on what?" she questioned to no one since she was alone but continued reading with a little bit of reluctance as her nose started to twitch "well they still owe money and have made no attempt to pay it back, you know what to do and I trust you will do so without getting caught, but if you do you will take care of them as well" Judy took a moment to breath as she read the little paragraph again "Is this..is this a ..." she didn't want to finish the sentence nor did she want to think about what she though it was.

"Along with this letter is a picture of the target and information about where they lived and work" she let her eyes move down to the sender of the letter "Mr. Big?" she questioned having never heard of the name before. Nose twitching even more as Judy noticed a paperclip at the top right corner of the letter. Reluctantly she reached behind and felt another smaller piece of paper. Slowly un-clipping it and bringing it to the front of the letter.

As she saw the picture she instantly dropped both pieces and backed herself to the driver side door.


	7. Friendship Short Lived

**AN:** Feel free to leave a Review, Favourite and Follow. I am also open to PMs if you wish to contacts me that way

Sorry for not uploading on Wednesday like I normally do, I decided to take a small break so I could let thoughts flow through my mind of what should happen in this story and to let some ideas come to me about new stories. Speaking of which I have set up a poll on my account for what type of story I should do once this one is finished. Please take your time to vote as it will make it easier for me to know what you want to see.

 **Reviews**

 **Ghoul (Guest):** It seems that every time Judy and Nick get closer together something always makes it more difficult for them. It's all up to Nick to try and find a way out of the situation for him and Judy and that is if she chooses to follow his lead anymore. Well Nick and Judy are now even on helping each other out in bad situations and will the dynamic change between the two? Well that would be telling.

 **Toons Girl:** If Nick does tell the chief and ends up in jail then surely he is safe from Mr. Big in there, and I have a small feeling that Mr. Big isn't the one he needs saving from anymore.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 7: Friendship Short Lived

Breathing heavily from the shock of the truth being revealed to her. At first she didn't believe it but the more Judy looked at the picture, the letter and the drawings, the more it made sense.

The fox carrying a limp dead bunny over it's shoulder was representing Nick and the most obvious feature being the bunny over his shoulder, representing Darren. The red on the unoccupied paw showing the blood from Darren.

With each breath Judy took the overwhelming sent of Nick entered her nose. Fear of what might possibly happen around the fox caused Judy's nose to twitch more and more.

There was one question in Judy's head at the time that she struggled to find the definate answer to _"why is he here?"_

There was multiple possible answers she had ranging from the completely possible "trying to cover up his tracks" to the unreasonable but still possible "he wants to kill the entire Jummps family". As she thought this Judy quickly jumped up and looked out the window towards the house. It looked reasonable calm and she couldn't hear any screaming or shouting and neither could she see anyone running out the house.

Taking a sigh of relief and sitting back down against the driver side door Judy spoke out loud to herself, not seeing any reason to stay quiet "at least they are all safe" _"for now"_ her brain quickly added to the end of her sentence. If it was just a couple hours earlier, Judy would have corrected her mind and say that she was being speciest and Nick was better than that.

But now that she has figured out that Nick was the killer, Judy knew that the thought had a good reason behind it other than some stereotype that was placed upon him just because he was a fox. Her thought behind being reluctant around him were completely justified and rational.

The more she thought about Nick, the more scared and fearful she came of him. Someone she was comfortable around and trusted enough to tell her dream job to, was a criminal in a police uniform. A wolf in sheep's clothing.

Thinking back to all the things they did together in the short period of time that she considered Nick a friend, Judy was both annoyed and confused. Annoyed because she could of easily avoided this whole situation if she just let her father kill the fox instead of getting in the way. Annoyed because she called for an ambulance to help a criminal.

But then she grew confused. Why did he justify her actions against the hare a few hours ago? Why did he give her time to tell her side of the story when she was clearly struggling?

With thoughts flying through her head at a hundred miles per hour and wanting to do what she could no longer do and make the world a better place, Judy quickly pulled out her phone and went straight to her camera. Quickly taking pictures of the letter, Darren and the drawings and just as quickly pocketing her phone when she considered herself done.

Leaning back against the door, Judy looked out the opposite door's window and noticed the sun slowly setting along the horizon. Slowly without the doe realising, sleep started to overtake her and caused her eyelids to shut heavily.

* * *

"Seriously, how can they look after so many kits?" Nick questioned as he exited the Jummp's residence "I would barely be able to hardly one or two let alone four hundred"

The questioning was anything but eventful. All he did was ask the same questions to every bunny who was home at the time and the majority of the time he got the same answers or anything similar to what was already told.

Slowly trudging towards his cruiser-turned-bed-turned-temporary-house he held the stack of paper that could easily reach the height of Finnick, he was blinded by the sun rising in the distance. Balancing the papers in one of his paws he used his free one to reach for his pocket where he usually kept his sunglasses. Only to come up empty handed. Putting the papers in his other paw he checked his other pocket only to come up empty handed again.

Holding his spare paw up to cover his sensitive eyes he continued the rest of the short walk to his cruiser.

When he reached his cruiser he put the stack of papers on the hood of his car and leaned against the door, letting his head hit it with a dull thud. Closing his eyes as he reflected over the waste of time that just occurred throughout the entirety of the night. Nick was thankful for naturally being nocturnal so that he wasn't anymore tired during the whole event than he already was.

"Who knew police work could be so boring" he said as he took a step back and turned around to face the door. Reaching out with his right paw for the door handle he grabbed it and pulled. He wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen so he was surprised when the door was opened enough Judy came falling out with her paws held out trying to grab something until she hit the floor with a thud.

 _"How could I forget about her?"_ Nick internally questioned himself as he looked down at Judy. Slowly falling down onto his knees and leaning forward so he could look at her more clearly "You alright there Carrots?" He asked with a little bit of concern in his voice

Slowly opening her eyes after she closed them upon impact Judy found herself staring straight into the emerald gaze of a concerned looking Nick. "Yeah...Yeah i'm fine" Judy said as she slowly pushed herself up and back onto her feet with assistance from the fox.

Once Judy was back on her feet she turned to face Nick and gave him a thankful smile. Nick smiled back and gestured with his paw back towards the cruiser "Ladies first"

Blushing lightly, Judy walked the short distance back to the cruiser and climbed in. When she was standing on the drivers seat, her eyes were laid upon the letter that she looked at before she had fallen asleep. Then she remembered all about the previous night and her discovery. Quickly picking everything up and pocketing it all before the fox could see it. Nose twitching from the dominant smell of fox, Judy walked over to the passenger seat and sat down as close to the door as possible.

Noticing her sudden change in behaviour, Nick was naturally curious about why she had suddenly changed but decided to let it be. Climbing into the cruiser himself and closing the door he noticed how far away Judy was sitting. Tilting his head to the side slightly as he looked at Judy who seemed to be deep in thought and staring at nothing in particular.

Deciding to try and start a conversation Nick put the keys in the ignition and turned them so that the engine roared to life and turned to face Judy "Next stop, Hopps household" When Judy slowly shook her head and looked at Nick,the little bit of joy he had left in him died at the fearful look on her face _"What has happened to her? It's not like she's figured out who the murderer is from the phone call"_ Nick thought to himself but was still feeling slightly nervous _"Don't worry, she's just a dumb bunny, she couldn't figure it out if I held a sign saying I did it"_ he thought added trying to build up a little bit of confidence "Judy, your parents are probably worried sick, you just left with someone they tried to kill without so much as a note, message or phone call"

He didn't get much for an answer, there was no audio confirmation but just a subtle head nod that was barely noticeable.

* * *

The cruiser was filled with nothing but an awkward silence. Nick's eyes were focused on the road and where he was going while Judy's were just staring blankly out of the windshield. Nick was stuck thinking about the possibility of Judy knowing the truth while Judy was stuck thinking about the truth.

When they had arrived at Judy's home, Nick finally decided to speak up and break the silence between the two as his curiosity got the better of him "Ok Fluff what's wrong with you?"

Judy looked at him, the fear on her face turning a little to hate "What!? nothings wrong with me, what's wrong with you?" she questioned bravely as she stood up on her seat and reached for the door to get out but found that it was still locked "Unlock the door Nick" she said bluntly.

Nick made no move to unlock the door and was slightly taken aback by the way she had talked to him. Knowing he wasn't going to unlock the door until he was finished with the conversation, Judy turned to face him with her back against the door

"Carrots, why are you acting like this?" Nick asked as he redeposited himself as well so he could face Judy at a comfortable angle

Taking a deep breath before she started talking, Judy stared Nick right into his eyes "acting like what Nick? I'm preety sure this is a reasonable way to at when you find out one of your friends is dead"

"But Carr- Judy You haven-" He had more to say and had questions to ask but was cut off by Judy

"Don't you dare start because I'm not finished" she said with he voice rising in volume "My friend dies and his last words aren't anything meaningful towards me, no they are just something that you would say during a normal conversation,it wasn't anything like 'Goodbye Judy, It was nice knowing you' or 'I love you' or anything that holds any meaning behind it"

"But then when I go and call about his disappearance slash murder slash whatever the hell this investigation is called instead of sending a trained, experienced officer who knows how to handle these situations, no they send a rookie and not just any rookie but a fox. An untrustworthy, sly, sneak and conniving fox that has probably stolen something from both my house and the Jummps house and probably isn't even investigating properly for any evidence or anything. A fox that more than likely didn't listen to anymore that three or five of them bunnies before he got bored and started drawing on them piece of paper. A fox that had to be saved so he could continue playing pretend investigation by a civilian when he was almost killed by a concerned parent" she said as she studied the hurt look in the foxes eyes. Walking so she could grab the keys Judy grabbed them and used them to remotely unlock the door before she walked back to her door and opened it before turning back to face Nick "and you know what? you would be better off dead anyway"

Judy jumped out of the cruiser and slammed the door shut with more force than was necessary and stormed her way towards her house. A tear slowly creeping down her face as she could feel the foxes gaze on her as she walked into her home. Opening the door and slamming it shut again with more force than necessary, Judy didn't even chance a look back at Nick. Neither did she pay attention to her parents and siblings as their cries and questions as they fell on deaf ears as she hurried towards her room.

When she got there she closed the door and put her desk chair in the way so no one would be able to enter unless she moved it. Not even bothering to turn the light on Judy just flopped onto her bed and let the plushies fall onto the floor and land on her back and ears. Her ears twitched slightly when she heard muffling and the sound of pawsteps outside. Slowly rising from bed towards her window, she saw her father wielding a pitchfork as he made his way towards the stationary cruiser. Said cruiser suddenly started and drove off quickly leaving a puff of smoke and dirt in it's wake.

Rolling her eyes at her father and the cowardice fox, Judy turned back to her bed, picking up the plushies that fell before she jumped back on it and stared at the wall. Finally feeling safe, Judy let go of the control she had over her emotions and openly wept thinking about the fox that she grew to trust and grow feeling for.

* * *

 **AN:**

I know it's a bit shorter than usually (Actually, it's the shortest chapter so far) but I felt like this shouldn't really be a hectic chapter and should instead focus on how Judy feels rather than trying to have more scenes filled with activity.


	8. Aftermath

**AN:** Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

Not much to say before we start of the next chapter except for a little reminder about the poll what you would like to see next once this fanfic is finished, yes they are all "cliche" scenarios but I do have a few ideas that I personally have not seen done before and I wish to hold them back a little bit until I have more ideas about what I want to happen.

 **Review:**

 **Toons Girl:** Maybe Judy might not have to turn Nick in, someone might beat her to it.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 8: Aftermath

Nick was shocked, confused and a little scared as Judy started to shout at him. The words she spoke were laced with hate, fear, annoyance and to top it off whenever she mentioned anything about the fox in front off her, she spat the words out with venom.

The words that were being shouted at him felt like a gun shot that hit him in the heart. This little bunny who had unknowing made his job a lot harder for him was hurting him more than he ever had been before. The doe that he had started to trust in such a short amount of time and had spent the majority of his time with was the source of the most pain he had ever felt before in his life.

When Judy had finished her rant that he listened to with attentive ears, Nick watched her walk in his direction. Expecting the worse, Nick readied himself and instinctively closed his eyes and waited if Judy made an attempt to strike him. After a couple seconds of nothing Nick slowly opened his eyes and saw Judy walking back to her door and opening it. He expected her to walk off into her home so he was taken by surprise when she turned to face him and said something that will be stuck in his head forever

"You would be better off dead anyway"

He had heard those words and everything similar to them countless amounts of times from random people he walked by on the street, people he just hustled and even by his fellow students when he went to school. Each and every time he easily shrugged it off and continued his day as if he never heard those words. This time however was much more difficult. Hearing those words from someone he grew to have feelings for was a lot different from hearing those words from someone he didn't care about. Even though he hadn't admitted to himself that he had feeling for Judy he felt as if he was being talked down upon by someone from his family. As if his mother had just spoken those words to him.

Nick was brought out of his trance when he heard the passenger door slam with a lot more force than he thought was possible from the small bunny. He watched with a tear rolling down his cheek as Judy walked back to her home. He took note that there was no hesitation to look back at him when the bunny opened her front door and slammed it shut forcefully.

With the bunny no longer visible, the fox let his tears out freely, making no attempt to stop them. Leaning forward Nick let his head land on the steering wheel harshly, not really caring at the moment about how it would affect him.

Nick just stared down at nothing in particulate as his feet just hung down and barely touched the floor. He was stuck deep in thought about his past and previous experiences that where as painful to him as what just happened.

The first thought that came to his head was of his dreaded experience of when he tried to join his local junior scout rangers when he was nine years old. He had only told two people about that day his entire life, his mother and Finnick. It was on this dreaded day that Nick found his motto for life to never let people see that they got to him. It was also this day when Nick had been muzzled for simply being a fox, the origin of his great fear. His mother had recommended to see someone about his fear and truthful to his promise, Nick tried to fin someone to talk to but was rejected every time for the same reason, because he was a fox.

The second thought was one that he did not remember as much due to his younger age. This was when he discovered his father cheating on his mother with an arctic vixen. Because of his discovery, Nick was made to promise that he would not say a word about what he saw to his mother unless he wanted to be hurt. Hearing his father threaten him made Nick scared but out of fear, he reframed from telling his mother. The affair continued for almost three months until his Marian Wilde had caught them in the act. On that day his father had packed all his belongings and left but he left a constant reminder about himself on Marian when he clawed her all the way across the right side of her snout. Once his father had left the premise, Nick had slowly walked up to his mother and was embraced by her as she tried to stay strong and not cry but failed as tears fell and landed on Nick.

Nick was thankful that he was brought away from these depressing thoughts as his ears twitched when he heard a distant door opening. Hoping for the best, Nick raised his head, hoping to see Judy coming back to apologise for what she said. But when he did see sent him into a mild panic. The same brown bunny that had brought him his near death experience was now marching towards with with a pitchfork in his hands and a fire in his eyes.

Quickly starting the vehicle, Nick drove off as fast as he could for his own safety, only chancing a look in the rear-view mirror when he was 90% sure he was safe. He didn't know where he was heading or where he was going to go but he did make the decision that he deserved sometime to himself and needed some rest somewhere more comfortable than a car seat. So Nick decided to head towards the centre of Bunnyburrow in hopes to find somewhere to stay for at least a few hours.

* * *

Judy was brought out of her sleep when she heard a light knock on her door. She was unaware that she had fallen asleep but was thankful for it none the less. That was until she checked her phone and realised that it was still the same day as when she discovered the truth. Judy went to unlock her phone but decided to wait as the knock on the door was repeated.

"Who is it?" she asked, her throat dry from shouting and crying shortly after. There was no answer for a moment and Judy thought that she should repeat herself until a voice responded

"Take a guess" the voice was painfully chippy and easily recognisable for Judy, but that didn't mean that she liked who the voice belonged to

"What do you want Ellie?" Judy asked as she raised her head to send the door a deadly glare, hoping that Ellie wouldn't be annoying for once. Sadly however that was not the case.

"I just need to ask one very important question that will change the course of my life for the foreseeable future and even the un-seeable future" Ellie said making dramatic action with her paws despite the fact that she was the only one who could see them

"What?" came Judy's curt response, she didn't want to deal with anyone right now and especially not Ellie

"Jeez so much for the build up" Ellie muttered before going back to the same chipper voice that she used before "I need to know if foxy cop is finished with you and if he is free for this evening, and the next and the next and so forth"

Judy dropped her head onto her pillow before unceremoniously throwing multiple stuffed plushies at the door causing a small pile to build up at the bottom. Once Judy was finished throwing her plushies about she responded to her sisters 'important question' "You can have him"

"Well you see Judy, I just don't see the fairness that you get to, wait what?" Ellie's response was automatic and she spoke as if she read a script until she actually processed what Judy said "seriously?" she questioned as she gave the door a confused look.

Judy opened her mouth to respond but her sister cut her off with multiple questions "Where can I find him? What should I wear? What gift should I give him? Would he appreciate it if I..."

"Ellie I swear if you don't shut up I will open that door and tie your ears in a knot" Judy interrupted in a loud voice before she answered one of her sisters questions "I have no idea where that fox is and nor do I care"

Ellie processed the information before she started to ask for more answers "ok, but what about..." Before she could continue she was once again cut off by the sound of Judy walking towards the door. Knowing that she went too far with her teasing, Ellie quickly took off away from the angry bunnies room before she could get harmed in anyway.

Judy opened her door forcefully and looked to the left of her door and saw the last part of her sister turn round the corner. Letting out a sigh Judy leaned back against the door frame and leaned her head back while closing her eyes "Ohhh Judy, perfect timing, I just want to talk to you"

The voice of Bonnie caused Judy to quickly open her eyes. When Judy saw her mother making her way towards her Judy quickly retreated back into her room and proceeded to lock it with the chair like she did before. Leaning against the door beside the chair Judy could hear her mother near closer and closer to her door until she stopped. Before Bonnie could knock on the door Judy spoke in as calm a voice as she could muster.

"Mom, please just, not now"

Hearing Judy's pleading voice caused Bonnie to rethink what she was going to do. Initially Bonnie was going to ask her daughter what had happened but now that Bonnie heard that Judy wasn't in any condition to talk, Bonnie was having an internal debate over whether or not to pry for answers or to leave her daughter to come to her when she was ready.

Deciding with the latter, Bonnie spoke in a sincere voice "Ok Judy dear, just come find me when your ready to talk" before she started to walk back the way she came.

Hearing the pawsteps fading Judy slowly raised herself from the floor and made her way back to her bed and sat down on the edge of it. "Why is my life so hectic and crazy all of a sudden" Judy spoke aloud to no one. With in the span of three days Judy had been forced onto a date with someone she wasn't interested in by her parents, found out that she wouldn't be able to achieve her dream job, listen to someone be murdered over the phone and then grew feelings for the murderer without even knowing.

Piking up her phone Judy proceeded to unlock it. When her phone was unlocked the first thing that came up was the pictures she took of everything Nick had drawn and the letter he was over the pictures, Judy was confronted with the decision of what she was going to do with it. She had reliable evidence that she could use to put the killer of Darren Jummps behind bars. But there was a small feeling deep down inside Judy that told her not to do it and that it wasn't her business. Ignoring this feeling, Judy sparred a chance to look outside and noticed that the sun was already setting

"I'll do it tomorrow" Judy told herself. As Judy leaned back to lay down in her bed she felt the small feeling inside her grow more. She didn't know what this feeling was pride? betrayal? guilt? regret? Judy's eyes went wide at the thought of feeling guilty for the fox. _"Why should I feel guilty for him"_ She thought.

Judy pulled here phone up and scrolled through her evidence against him. Her digit that she used to scroll through the photos had scrolled one too far to the left and Judy now found herself staring at the picture that she took with Nick after she saved him from his death. Judy stared at the smiling fox that was in her lap and the small feeling inside her started growing stronger.

Idly her digit continued to scroll through the pictures that she took with Nick while he slept in the cruiser the day after he had arrived. With each passing photo the feeling kept growing stronger and stronger. When she passed the last picture she took a picture of something motivational popped up. It wasn't weird for Judy to have motivational pictures as she often looked at them when she started doubting herself. But this one felt relevant.

It had a generic background of a field with the sun just peaking out but the text had made Judy reread it multiple times. "Everyone has a story, It's all about making yours a good read" She read aloud but after a while she decided to focus on the first line "Everyone has a story"

Keeping the quote in mind, Judy went back to the pictures of the fox "Everyone has a story, so what's yours?" she questioned.

As Judy grew tired she laid down on her bed and looked at the smiling fox one last time before locking her phone and putting it on charge before closing her eyes and letting her thoughts roam as sleep slowly took her

 _"Why did he do it? that's the story I want to know"_

* * *

It had taken Nick all day but he had finally found somewhere that looked like he would be able to sleep for the night, and he needed it now more than ever. After getting lost multiple times trying to find his way to the centre of Bunnyburrow. Then when he had stopped and asked for directions he was lead in the wrong direction multiple times from fear ridden bunnies.

Slowly getting out the cruiser and locking it Nick's mind was still on the events that happened earlier in the day he barely managed to avoid tripping over a family of rabbits who were now frantically pulling their kits away from Nick.

Ignoring the family, Nick entered into the place that he had spied in and had hoped that he would be able to have a actual bed to sleep in for at least one night, even if the bed was going to be really small.

When Nick walked up to the front desk he couldn't see any mammal in sight but his eyes widened when he saw a little bell with a sign next to it that read "Ring the bell for assistance". Feeling slightly giddy, Nick slowly raised his paw and rested it above the bell. Taking a deep breath, Nick quickly hit the bell twice before whipping his paws together _"Well, I can cross that off the bucket list"_

His eyes snapped when he noticed a small grey rabbit come out a door and start walking towards him before they stopped and turned around and started walking back towards the door quietly.

Nick let them reach the door and think that they had gone unnoticed before he spoke up "ahhh there you are, I saw the door open but couldn't see anyone" Nick spoke in a voice that thankfully didn't show how happy he was when the rabbit jumped up on the spot.

The rabbit slowly turned around and started to walk towards the front desk again until the jumped onto a stool and spoke in a quiet voice that showed that they were nervous and scared "uhhhh hello sir my name is J- Judy leap, ho- how may I help you?"

 _"Hold on a second"_ Nick thought mentally _"small, rabbit, female, grey fur and named Judy"_ Nick stayed quiet as he went to observing his surroundings as his thoughts continued _"so doppelgangers are real!"_

Turning his attention back to Judy, Nick went to observing her while he talked "Yeah I was wondering if you had any spare rooms that I could use for the night?" Once Nick finished telling Judy what he wanted he also finished his observation. He came to the conclusion that this Judy was a lot like Judy Hopps. This had brought Nick's somewhat happy mood back down as he thought back to Judy's rant on him.

His ears had perked when he heard the sound of two small metal objects hitting together under the desk _"Ohhh thank god they do have a spare room"_

"I-I'm sorry but uhhh We don't have any- any spare rooms"

Nick just froze as he herd the terrified doe talk "wait, hold on a second" He spoke in a voice that was louder than he expected but he made no effort to quiet down "You don't have any rooms?" he asked rhetorically

"uhhh yes n-no rooms"

"Then what was that sound of metal hitting metal a little while ago?" Nick hummed and paused for a second until the rabbit on the offer side of the desk opened their mouth "Hold on Judy, I'm not finished, stop me if I'm wrong, Dumb little rabbit get's a job and thinks she's all that and is enjoying helping everyone in need, That is until one day a fox in a police uniform walks in and suddenly this little wabbit is scared and doesn't want to help the fox in front of her so she lies about not having any room despite having a spare room for him to sleep in"

Judy starred at Nick as he seemed to tell the story of her life in very short. She made no attempt to interrupt the fox, partly from fear and partly from his story being true. When Nick was finished and didn't speak but just stared at the rabbit,Judy just gave a small head nod.

Nick quickly raised his paw and brought it back down just as quickly on the desk causing the rabbit to jump but he didn't care "well you know what Judy? I don't need you,you can just go back to your family and support their speciest beliefs without giving me a chance to explain myself but don't worry because i'm a fox and guess what, I have heard all this before but it hurts the most coming from someone I started to trust, do you know how painful that is Judy? Imagine yourself in my situation and for once don't think about yourself"

Once Nick was finished with his rant he quickly turned around and exited the building. When he jumped back into the cruiser, Nick let his head fall onto the wheel for what felt like the hundredth time that day _"I don't know who I was shouting at Leap or Hopps"_ Nick thought as he stared down at his hind paws. Checking his phone for the time Nick was shocked to realise that it was quickly approaching midnight. Curling up on the drivers seat with the tip of his tail covering his face, Nick slowly closed his eyes and looked for sleep.

When his eyes did close all he saw was the same grey figure that seemed to be familiar to him. He approached the figure and taped them on the shoulder to get their attention. The figure turned around and their violet eyes stared up at him with a look of sadness and something that confused Nick: love. Why would this figure, who looked a lot like the same bunny who had just betrayed him a few hours ago be giving him a loving look in his dreams. For some reason he felt his paw reach down and cup her tried to pull it back but had no control over his body. She leaned into his paw and nuzzled against it with her eyes shut. But when she stopped, the figure opened their eyes again and the loving amethyst gaze looked up at him. Then at once she seemed to stand on her toes while Nick felt himself lean down.

Just before their lips locked Nick jumped out of his seat and backed himself against the seat he was in. He looked around and found that he was in the cruiser all by himself. Reaching for his phone, Nick checked the time and realised that it had only been five minutes since he had settled and tried to get to sleep.

"She's right" Nick said aloud before following what he said with a sigh before he started the cruiser and started driving away from the centre "Time to do the right thing"

* * *

Judy herself wasn't having much luck getting to sleep either. Much like Nick she was haunted by the thoughts of her now ex-friend. Short dreams of her cuddled up into his side and wrapped in his tail as they watched the sun rise together, or of them just relaxing on a beach or of them watching a movie while being cuddled up with each other. Each dream made the bunny feel the same way.

The feeling that was deep inside her growing stronger and stronger the more she thought about the fox.

Judy just laid in her bed staring at the ceiling, having given up on sleep a few minutes earlier. But staying awake didn't stop the thoughts of Nick. Each one was showing him in a good light and had him acting in a caring towards her like he had during their short friendship. As her thoughts trailed through her time with Nick, one thought brought her happy but annoyed mood down to a sad and apologetic one. This thought was of how their friendship ended.

 _"Cheese and crackers I need to_ _apologise"_ Without so much as a second thought, Judy jumped out of her bed and rushed to get a set of clean clothes. Settling on her recently cleaned favourite shirt and the first set of jeans that she could find she gave herself a look in the mirror. Her pink plaid shirt went well with the black jeans she had picked out. Not wanting to bring any attention from anyone who might still be awake, Judy walked towards her window and opened it enough for her to crawl out. Once she was out, Judy closed the window but still left a little gap enough for her to open it from the outside.

Much like what Nick did in order to enter her room a few days ago, Judy jumped towards the pipe and managed to get a tight grip on it. Slowly, Judy lowered herself down until her hind paws came to contact with the ground. Walking quickly to the front of the Hopps house until she stopped as she remembered one important bit of information _"I have no idea where he is"_

With her paw tapping on the ground rapidly causing dirt to create a cloud around her Judy thought where she might possibly find the fox cop. There was only one place where she could logically find him _"Where ever his cruiser is, that's where he is"_ Judy thought before she spoke quietly to herself "Well done, you figured that out but one problem, his cruiser is a vehicle that can move and he can be absolutely anywhere"

 _"Ok Judy, don't panic, just think, where would you find a police cruiser?"_

I didn't take long for Judy to think of a reasonable place to find a cop and his vehicle "Police Station" she said aloud before she started the long trek towards the BunnyBurrow Police station.


	9. Apologies

**AN:** Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

I took another week off but my schedule SHOULD be back to normal.

 **Review:**

 **Boissey:** Thank you for the kind words, I myself am also a wolf fan and would have probably included one already but I'm trying to keep to smaller prey species while in BunnyBurrow but I might be able to find somewhere to put one in for you.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 9: Apologies

During the drive from the centre of BunnyBurrow to the police station that was located along the outskirts of the quiet town Nick found himself lost multiple times. Unlike Zootopia, Nick had no idea where he was going. He often bragged that he knows everyone and knows where they would be along with the quickest way to get to them. But now, Nick was in unfamiliar territory. While he had spent a few days in Bunnyburrow, that was while he was travelling between two houses, this was the second time he was travelling without a guide.

After getting lost and almost falling asleep at the wheel, Nick had pulled over to the side of the road with the intent of getting some sleep. When he had closed his eyes and began to slowly drift off into sleep, the blank emptiness of his mind was filled with a small grey figure with wide violet eyes staring up at him. No matter how much he tried to think of something else other than the doe that had just unknowingly sealed his fate inside a prison cell for who knows how long, the bunny would always appear back in his mind.

Nick had finally found sleep when he had given up trying to fight away the thoughts of Judy, he was neither happy or annoyed with what happened despite how hard he tried to convince himself.

The dreams where much like the night before, just him and Judy alone together. The surroundings were all blurry and irrelevant as Nick's full attention was on the doe in front of him before he leaned down and closed his eyes as their lips drew closer and closer until they finally touched.

For Nick, the confusingly happy dream came to an end as an alarm starting ringing. Slowly opening his eyes until he found himself staring at the tip of his tail. Slowly reaching into his uniform pants pocket where he had found the source of the alarm. Staring weirdly as his phone as he dismissed the alarm before stretching in his seat "When did I set an alarm" Nick asked himself as he looked at his phone.

Slowly going to his contacts list in hope that he could find something that would brighten his mood before he went to turn himself in. Instead he found no new messages or missed phone calls from anyone. Quickly going back to the home screen of his phone to find the same bland black background that he had for longer than he could remember. He never found a good enough reason to put a picture of himself or someone/something that he cared about.

Quickly opening up his Zoogle maps app, this was one of the few times where Nick had remembered that his phone was usable outside of Zootopia and the different districts. Inwardly cursing himself for not remembering this little fact earlier as he searched for his destination before looking at the thankfully short route he would have to take.

Slowly turning the engine of the cruiser on as he reached for the in car speaker as he plugged his phone in and did something he rarely ever did. Nick had gone onto his phone as he began to look for a song to play as he judged what they were like from the title and the first 10 seconds.

"Too Quiet"  
"Too Upbeat"  
"Too Overplayed"  
"Too Slow"

He listed off until he found one he started to appreciate "This will do" He said as he started to pressed down on the accelerate pedal as the lyrics kicked in through the speaker as Nick started to play with the volume control. The lyrics were loud and sounded like a mix of a grown mammal shouting and a baby kit crying "No thank you, I like my hearing" Nick said quickly as he reached over and changed the song without a second thought.

Grabbing his phone in his paw as he started to drive, Nick went to the one song he had saved on his phone. The song that no one knew he listed to and admittedly liked "Try Everything" by Gazelle.

* * *

Judy had been walking all night and showed no signs of stopping as she came up to her destination: The BunnyBurrow Police Station. Truly Judy had no idea how she had been able to walk the long distance without little rest. There was only one explanation she could give and that was all the long distance running that she did in her younger years to get herself ready for her dream job of being a cop.

But now the sun was high in the blue sky and the doe was dedicated to complete her mission of finding the fox cop she had recently wished death upon and apologising to him.

Quickly entering the building Judy found that is almost empty except for herself and one of the few officers she had talked to a lot when she was passionate about being a cop. "Hey Barry" she said cheerfully as she approached the front desk.

The overweight sheep looked at her excitedly as she stopped a few steps away so she could see the sheep "Hey Judy!" the sheep shrieked with joy as it held it's hooves up to his mouth before he continued talking in a slightly quieter voice that was still much louder than what was necessary "It's been too long, how have you been cutie?"He questioned before putting his hooves back over his mouth and began to apologise profusely "Ohhh my god I am sooo sorry, I didn't mean to offend you in anyway I promise"

Judy laughed lightly as the sheep began to tap his hooves against the desk in front of him "It's ok Barry, I know you would never say it intentionally" Judy said as she offered a small smile "I actually came here looking for someone and was hoping that I would be able to find them here" she asked as she turned around and looked around the empty lobby expecting someone to appear as if out of thin air "Has a fox been here at all? his name is-"

"Gideon?" Barry cut Judy off as he gave her a curious look "No he hasn't been here ever since he took them anger management classes" He said before he leaned over the desk and spoke in a softer and more quieter voice "He hasn't... hurt you at all has he?"

"What? No, why would he do that?" Judy asked as she stared at Barry with wide eyes

The sheep shrugged a little before he responded to Judy "Well you know, he's a fox"

Judy stared harshly at Barry which seemed to put the sheep on edge slightly "I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that speciest comment from you" Judy said which made Barry back away and grow an apologetic look on his face "and plus I'm not looking for Gideon I'm looking for Officer Wilde, It's kind of important" Judy told Barry as he seemed to turn to the monitor on the desk

"ohhh him" Barry seemed to say with a bit of hate "I can't stand the mammal"

"Why not?" Judy asked curiously

"He's just so cocky and smug and self centred" the sheep said quickly before taking a few deep breaths to calm himself before he started talking again "He walks around like he owns the place, always has that stupid grin on his muzzle and let's not mention how he doesn't even bother to learn anyone's name. When he first came here he had to look at his papers to know your name, he refused to call me by name over the radio when I tried to talk to him once, kept calling me 'Woolington' and I haven't tried to talk to him ever since, was his stupid nickname for you?" Barry ranted on about the fox and Judy couldn't find herself to disagree with a few points that where made.

The fox was smug about his achievement in becoming a police officer and even showed off what he had evidently learned at the academy. Nick always walked around with confidence and held his head up high, no matter what the situation was. He always wore the same confident and smug grinon his muzzle that made Judy's heart skip a beat or two when it was aimed at her. While the nicknames where stupid, Judy liked them and it warmed her heart whenever one of them was said.

"Carrots?"

While Judy had opened her mouth to respond, the voice was not hers. Turning around quickly as the sheep's head was raised the two sets of eyes landed on the newest entrant.

Nick stood at the door of the building with his hands in his pockets idly and eyes a bit wide. The usual easy going grin on his muzzle wasn't present and even his tail dropped onto the floor. Without saying another word Nick quickly turned around and exited the door and started to walk away, his ears twitching as he heard his name but he chose to ignore it.

"Nick!" Judy called as the fox left through the door. Quickly going through the door the fox had gone through without saying anymore words to the sheep. When she was out of the door Judy checked to her left and saw nothing out of the usual. Quickly turning to her right Judy saw the last bits of a tail walk past the corner of the building towards where Judy guessed was where his cruiser was.

Not wanting to lose the one chance she had to apologise to the fox she had hurt before he went away to somewhere she wouldn't find him, Judy ran past the corner and caught sight of the fox with his head low and tail along the floor as he was walking towards a parked cruiser. "Nick!" Judy called again but much to the same result as previously. Quickly running up beside Nick as he paid her no attention and just moved closer to the vehicle

"Nick we need to talk" Judy said calmly. He anger was slowly building the more she was ignored.

When the fox reached the cruiser he opened the door and went to climb inside but it was quickly closed before he could even get one paw in. Looking to his right Nick's slightly watery eyes met those of violet that stared at him with a look of hurt on them.

"Nick, please listen to me" Judy begged. She had sounded so weak in just that one sentence and it made Nick want to do something to reassure her. The only thing he could think was to hear her out but things weren't that simple.

"What so you can just insult me more? wish death upon me again and probably stun me with a taser like your father?" Nick replied as he removed his eyes from the bunnies and reach for the door again. Only this time he hadn't opened it as much as he previously did before Judy slammed it shut again and stood in front of the door so the fox couldn't make anymore attempts to open it.

"Nick please, just hear me out" Judy said as she caught the foxes gaze again and saw how watery they were. If it wasn't obvious already then how close he was to tears showed how much the fox was and still is affected from their last encounter.

When the fox had stayed quiet and made no signs of moving away or talking, Judy took that as her cue to continue

"Nick, I know there is a very, very, very high chance that you will not forgive me and if I was you, I wouldn't forgive me either" Judy paused, hoping for some type of reaction but all she got was a slight ear twitch "I know what I said was uncalled for and I had no right reason in saying all those things. There is no acceptable reason for wishing death on someone who spends their time protecting me and everyone else around them while putting their life on the line"

"I said some things that I have never said before, I insulted you not because of your personality but because of what you was born as, while I have been insulted and disregarded because of my species that doesn't mean that I was in any position to do the same to you" Judy slowly turned around so she faced the cruiser and held her hands together before pushing them out towards the fox "go ahead and arrest me for hate speech, I know it's illegal to talk badly about someone because of what they were born as" her voice was low again along with her head as she waited for the cuffs to surround her wrists.

Judy stayed like that for a while and when she felt nothing new on her wrists she looked over her shoulder to see a stunned looking fox. Nick opened his mouth to talk but no words came out except a jumbled mess of names "Carr-Judy I-"

"Just go ahead and arrest me Nick, make what I can't do and make the world a better place, get one less speciest mammal off the streets"

Nick raised his head fully as he took in what Judy was saying. Not that she should be arrested but that he should do what she can't 'make the world a better place'. The way she said it made it clear that there was more reasons other than not believing in herself from stopping her being a cop but Nick chose to ignore that for the time being.

"Nick, I know I was wrong. I don't want you dead. I want you to be able to help those who need it, I want you to make the world safer for the next generation of mammals, I want you to be able to go home and tell your family that you're a good mammal and-" Judy stopped as she contemplated what she was going to say next and found herself talking before she knew what to say "I want you-"

Judy cut herself off as she felt two arms warp around her and pull her close until her back hit the chest of Nick. Judy looked up and saw the fox looking down at her. A light blush was setting into her cheeks and was possibly showing through her fur as she opened her mouth to talk but was silence by the fox as he held a digit up to his mouth

"shhhhh" he said softly before Judy could say anything "Just enjoy the moment" Nick muttered more to himself. Little did he know that the rabbit does' ears twitch as she picked up what the fox said and did just that: Enjoyed the moment. Judy leaned back into Nick and brought her arms forward to rest them over Nick's as he rested his head between her ears.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity to both. They enjoyed the warmness of being so close to each other, something neither of them would have ever of thought of a few weeks ago.

Judy had never thought that she would find comfort in her ancestor's greatest enemy, especially given Judy's past experiences with Foxes.  
Nick had never thought he would find himself enjoying being so closed to who his kind had hunted previously, especially in such a suggesting way.

Judy was the first to break the silence in a gentle questioning voice "your- your not going to arrest me?" she asked as she turned herself around while not leaving the foxes embrace. Placing her paws on his chest as she looked up at him

chuckling lightly before he spoke, trying his best to speak in the same calm and gentle voice as Judy but finding a bit shaky from the now free flowing tears of joy "Fluff, if I'm even going to try and arrest you it wouldn't be for hate speech, I get it from everyone I see, even the chief of police who is my boss and he is meant to set an example for everyone" He paused as he let his words sink in "Hate speech is one of them crimes everyone does and one of the more acceptable ones like littering" Nick looked back down into the now watery eyes of Judy that were on the edge of bursting into tears "Don't worry Judy, I forgive you"

Judy didn't say anything. She only wrapped her arms around the fox and hugged him tightly as he seemed to return the hug. Judy's tears were now flowing freely as she held her face against Nick's uniform shirt, wetting it a little with her tears.

Nick reluctantly pulled away a bit as he looked down at Judy as he remembered the reason he had come here in the first place "Judy, I- I have to tell you something"

Despite how serious he seemed in both his voice and the use of her actual name, Judy let go of the fox and looked up at him before she cut him off as he opened his mouth "We should get something to eat" she blurted out.

Nick looked at her with both confusion and shock "what?" he asked more so he could hear her say it again and to make sure he heard her correct.

Judy started to fumble with her paws in front of her as she lowered her head and looked at the ground while speaking in a low voice "I uhh- I said we should- maybe get something to eat"

"I would like that Carrots" Nick said as his smile returned and grew even wider when Judy's head jumped up so quickly that she looked a little dizzy and stunned.

Shaking her head to sort her sight out Judy looked at Nick with wide eyes "Really?" she asked thinking it was some type of joke or prank but became ecstatic when he nodded his head in the affirmative "amazing, we can go somewhere to eat then I can show you around a bit, and you know give you an actual tour of my own little town"

"Sounds like a date Carrots" Nick said smugly as he watched Judy's cheeks flush with a deep blush, despite the fact he could feel his own cheeks come warm at what he had said. He was a little thankful that Judy made no effort to correct him and instead she started to walk past the front of the cruiser

"Great, you're the driver and I'll give you directions to the town centre, we'll find something to eat there and then the tour can begin" she said as she hopped in the passenger seat before looking over the foxes uniform attire as he climbed in. Clearing her throat before she spoke as Judy adjusted herself so she was leaning against the passenger door "No offence, but do you have something else to wear?"

Nick looked over at the bunny before looking down at what he was wearing, seeing the opportunity to tease Nick took it and quickly responded in what Finnick called his 'hustling voice' "What's wrong Fluff? don't like a mammal in uniform?"

He was pleased with the blush that became more evident through her fur and resisted the urge to laugh as she pulled her ears over her head to try and hide herself as she tried to respond but only stammered "No I uhh... Yes? I think-..."

"Don't worry Carrots, I'm just teasing, I have a few spare changes of casual clothing in the back, I'll be right back then the Judy Hopps tour of BunnyBurrow can begin" He said waving his arms around dramatically which caused a few laughs from the doe next to him before he slowly exited the vehicle and headed to the back to find a change of clothes.


	10. Date Not Date

**AN:** Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

So this is the space I will use for a quick shameless plug. I have published a new story called "One shot: Songs" It's just a collection of one shots based on the names of songs and the rest is completely up to me to interpret.

I have finally got an AO3 account under the same name "TW14" but because I screwed up and deleted the work for this story as I published it and doesn't allow you to import stories from , this story is now exclusive to this site.

Also, this chapter was a pain to write. Not because of actually having to write it but more the fact that I had to write it all a total of three different times because I never saved it and kept getting logged out during the process of writing

 **Review:**

 **GhostWolf88:** Thank you for your kind words, that was probably the easiest chapter to write since it just seemed to just flow out and connect together

 **Boissey:** I don't think Nick was thinking about all the explanations he would have to give at the time.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 10: Date Not Date

Judy waited in the cruiser in silence with a happy smile on her face. While she was able to apologize to Nick it didn't exactly end in the way she was expecting.

She had expected some words traded to each other, Nick talking about how he was badly affected and Judy saying how sorry she was.

But instead what had happened was she willing gave herself in to be arrested on terms of hate speech and because of this, she was now waiting for her date to get changed and take her to wherever they were heading for dinner.

Judy's mind came to a standstill as she realized what word she had just used to describe the fox. Then her mind just stopped working when she realized that she wasn't the first mammal out of the two of them to say the word "date"

Just when Judy wished she had more time to think over, the door opposite opened and the fox climbed in and for the first time, Judy saw him out of his uniform. As Judy looked over his new his new attire she wished he kept the uniform on.

His shirt was untucked and Judy was surprised the collar wasn't standing up straight. The designed was a green with darker green paw prints which seemed to be in random places over the shirt. It looked like what you would see mammals wearing unbutton on a tropical beach while they lay down on a blanket or in a chair. Judy was Thankful it was mostly buttoned up except the button at the very top. The tie looked completely out of place. It was a simple navy blue with dull pink strips running down it at a diagonal angle and looked loose enough for him to just lift over his head.

His pants were the only piece of his outfit that seemed to match with anything else. The khakis were a simple light brown but despite somewhat matching his shirt it didn't improve his look for Judy and overall she found the outfit a bit humorous.

Judy held her paws up to her mouth to try and quiet her laughter but brought more attention to herself from Nick.

"What's wrong? is some of my fur sticking out?" He asked as he began to flatten his already flat head fur before moving down to his muzzle and doing the same.

Judy took a few deep breaths to try and compose herself before she spoke "no you dumb fox, it's your clothing I mean who wears anything like that anymore?" Judy asked before she covered her mouth and started laughing again.

Nick's arms dropped into his lap as he repositioned himself in the same manner as Judy, with his back against the closed door and legs crossed in front of him with a lazy smirk across his face "and what is wrong with this?" Nick asked as he gestured to his clothes "I will let you know that bak in Zootopia the ladies are all over me"

"Trust me slick, the only ladies who would even step close to you while you wear that is the blind" Judy snapped back as she gained control of her laughing.

Nick quickly place one over his chest and put on a face of hurt "ouch, you wound me Carrots"

"Do you not have anything else you could wear? I would even prefer it if you wore your uniform over that" Judy asked more seriously as she began to sit in the correct position for when the vehicle would be in motion

Nick followed much in the same and started the vehicle as he spoke "you bunnies, always wanting something, first you ask me to change out of uniform and now you want me in uniform, what else do you want?" his voice gave away how serious he was trying to sound and made it clear that he was only saying it in jest.

When Nick started to reverse the vehicle and started driving, Judy found herself wanting to ask Nick a question that would most certainly change the course of this 'date' for the rest of the night. Trying to find the courage to ask, Judy took a few deep breaths "Hey uhhh Nick... is this a...would you call..." When Judy couldn't find herself to ask the question slowly she took a deep breath and spoke it out as fast as she can in one breath "Nickwouldyoucallthisadate?"

To Nick's credit, If he was shocked he did not show it. Instead, he turned his head to look at Judy with a neutral expression before talking in a gentle voice "I don't know Fluff, what do you think it is?"

Judy was surprised at the turn around of her question and actually took a moment to think about it. She didn't know if she wanted this to be a date or not. "I don't know" she answered honestly before continuing in a frantic mess of words "It's like a date but at the same time it's not..."

Judy continued to mumble but it fell on deaf ears as the fox smiled lightly at how panicked Judy was over something so simple. Clearing his throat loudly so that Judy stopped talking and he could start "How about we call this a 'date not date'?" Nick asked as Judy looked at him expecting him to say more.

When he said nothing else Judy just nodded her head slowly and went to look out the window for a moment. The more time that past the more uneasy and awkward the silence between them came until Judy spoke up

"Hey Nick"

"hmmmm" he hummed in response and turned to meet her gaze

"You turned the wrong way"

As Judy's words reached his ears he turned back and faced forward before letting his head fall onto the steering wheel and muttering under his breath "Just my luck"

* * *

When Nick had found somewhere he could legally turn around and be driving the correct way towards the town centre with help from Judy, Nick started up a small but very important conversation.

"So Ms. Travel Guide, anything you want to eat?"

Judy turned in her seat after seeing that there were no turns insight that she would have to help the fox with "that is all up to you, your the one who has never been here before"

When Judy got a hesitant head nod she turned back to looking forward and saw the collection of crops they were about to pass "Ohhh the Punny family has a nice looking harvest"

Nick turned to Judy with a look on his face that seemed to say 'are you crazy?' which caused Judy to explain what she saw while gesturing out the window "The punny family, their the owners of them crops out there and from the looks of it they have a good harvest"

"And how do you know that is the Punny families farm?" Nick question with true curiosity

"Well laws in Bunnyburrow state that all land used for farming must have a fence surrounding it with a sign on each sign saying the family that owns it and what is grown in there" Judy stated as if she was reading the exact law from an imaginary book as she looked at the fox "And the sign should be visible right about...now" she said not even bothering to move her head to make sure she was correct instead looking at the fox.

Just as Judy said now, a sign that did detail the crops and owners did pass by and Nick was impressed. Sure back in Zootopia he could walk through the streets with his eyes closed and go to just about anywhere without hitting anything but he wanted to test how much the bunny knew

"Ok then Carrots, let's make a little friendly bet, If you can name all the owners of the farms we pass then I will personally do one thing for you, no matter what it is"

"What happens if I get one wrong?" Judy question as she settled back into her seat

"Then you have to personally do one thing I want you to, no matter what it is" Nick stated as he took a hand off the wheel and held it out to Judy "Deal?"

"Deal"

* * *

A few hours later and the cruiser as being driven around the town centre with one slightly annoyed fox and one happy bunny. Turned out that Judy could name every farm owner and now Nick was in debt to her.

They had been driving around for a while with Nick looking for somewhere to eat. Judy on the other hand was looking at the fox with a little interest. No matter how comfortable he seemed in his clothing he seemed slightly tense.

Nick slowly pulled the vehicle to a stop outside a small and colourful building. Just above the door hung a little sign with a picture of a pie "Hey Carrots, you want some Pie?" Nick questioned as he turned to face Judy and found her already looking at him.

Judy's ears fell over her face as a blush slowly showed through her fur "uhhh yeah sure" she said before quickly getting out the cruiser to avoid any possible questions from the fox.

When Judy walked past the front of the cruiser and saw the exact building that they had stopped in front and she stopped dead in her tracks.

The building was the same one that she and many of her friends had a bad experience with and an even worse experience with the owner. Not wanting to see said owner again Judy quickly tried to make up some excuse "Nick... are you sure you want to eat here?...I mean you might not enjoy it because you know...you're a predator"

"As long as they have blueberries I will be fine" Nick said as he reached out towards the door but turned around to see how far away Judy was "What's wrong Judy? if you want we can go somewhere else" he offered and made a start to walk back before Judy started walking towards him

"Ohhh no don't worry about me Nick, I just remembered something I have to do back at home" she said as she walked up to Nick and gave him a nod of her head towards the door

Nick hesitantly opened the door and let Judy walk in before him as he followed behind.

The building was just as colourful on the inside as it was out. Along the left and right were a row of booths and straight forward was a counter with a bored looking wolf messing with his phone.

Nick and Judy walked side by side up to the front counter and it wasn't until Nick gently rocked on the counter with one of his paws that the wolf put his phone down and acknowledged them.

"Hello and welcome to Gideon's bakery, my name is Matt and what would I be able to get you today sir?" he asked showing as much professionalism as he could.

Nick took his time observing the wolf in front of him. If it wasn't for his slightly high pitched voice it was his lower than average height that gave away the fact that the wolf was still in school and was trying to make a few extra bucks. His white fur shined in the bright lights above them and it was well kept and looked like someone else had done it for him. His muddy brown eyes gave off how gentle he was but also gave away the fact that he was a little on edge which caused Nick to do some thinking while he responded.

"Well I'm out here for business and my friend here" He said while gesturing to the bunny next to him and continued as the wolf tried to see who he had gestured at "said that I should take some time off so we..."

"You need to leave right now" Matt interrupted Nick and despite what he said and how he had just said it before letting Nick finished made it obvious that he didn't want to do this.

Wanting more information as Judy started to take a few steps back without offering an argument but she quickly stopped when Nick spoke up "Why?" he questioned gently and curiously

Matt took a deep breath and checked over his shoulder at a door that was slightly ajar before he leaned forward a little and spoke in a quiet voice "The boss doesn't sell to any prey"

Judy again started to walk but stopped when Nick spoke up again "Why?" He questioned again but in a firmer voice

"Nick it's fine we can go somewhere else" she offered and placed her paw on his arm to get him to look at her

"But why should we go somewhere else because one mammal can't put behind what a mammal is born is" He spoke in a gentler voice than what he had previously but went back to being fully firm when he turned back to Matt "Why? why doesn't your boss like serving prey?"

"Because they are small, weak and make life harder for us predators" a fourth voice spoke out loudly as the newest figure stood at the once nearly closed door that was now wide open "What prey is trying to buy food that they don't deserve Matt? all I see if a fine specimen of fox"

Matt stayed quiet and Nick was the one who spoke up and took a step back so that Judy was visible to the larger fox and took his place at Judy's side again "That would be my good friend here sir" Nick spoke formally

"Judy" the larger fox spat out as a snarl escaped is muzzle

Judy winced as the large fox spat out her name like venom "Gideon" Judy responded putting on an act of trying to sound tough

"I thought I told you never to step foot in here again" Gideon said as he started to make his way out from behind the counter and slowly started walking to the bunny, ignoring Nick completely "now tell me Ms. I wanna be a cop, why should I serve you? why should I take my time to make you food?"

The mention of being a cop made any comeback Judy had ready say disappear as she realized that Gideon was correct all those years ago. Bunnies were not meant to be cops, they were meant to stay at home and have large families so that their family name can continue for another couple hundred of years.

"excuse me sir but..." Nick spoke gently trying to get Gideon's attention. He got it but didn't keep it for long

The larger fox turned his attention to Nick and spoke in a professional voice "Please hold on a minute and I will be right with you" and he quickly turned back around to Judy and spoke in the same intimidating voice he did before Nick interrupted "So little Ms. Anyone can be anything where your shiny little badge? wheres your little toy pawcuffs? ohhh wait let me guess, you're not a cop, I told you no sane mammal would take a weak little bunny as a cop, esspecially In Zootopia"

Seeing how Judy was putting up no effort to fight back and how affected she was at the other foxes words, not to mention that what Gideon was making Nick even more curious about the lost dream that Judy had to be a cop. Nick stopped standing around and stood in between Gideon and Judy, his tail wrapping around Judy's legs as he began to speak "Ok sir I've heard enough"

Gideon took a small step back and looked the fox over before talking in his professional business mammal voice "Sir I shall be with you in a minute so please..."

"Well you see Gideon, I'm here on business and I guess I should make it clear what type of business it is: Police business" He said while reaching into his pocket for his wallet and pulling out his ZPD ID card.

Gideons eyes widened at the sight of the ID card and opened his mouth to talk but no words came out so Nick continued

"And like I said before my friend here thinks I need to have some time to myself so I decide to come to this fine establishment in search for some fresh pies, but If who I choose as a friend is a problem to you then me and Judy can just take our business and money elsewhere, and let's not mention the fact that I could arrest you right here, right now on terms of hate speech along with a pretty hefty fine. If you do go to jail you will have to give someone your business and I know that Matt over there is no family relation to you and I know that you most likely don't trust anyone to give the business to so you will have to sell the business and the only reason you will get some money for it is the location because if this is how you treat the majority of your customers then I'm pretty sure that no one would be willing to buy it off you for a lot of money"

As Gideon seemed to become frozen from what Nick said, the smaller of the two foxes turned to Matt "Hey Matt could I have two slices of blueberry pie please, Carrots what do you want?"

Judy suddenly snapped out of her trance while she was looking down at the tail around her legs and spoke up in a slightly shakey quiet voice "Just one slice of carrot pie please"

Matt stayed quiet and hesitantly took their order as he looked over at his still frozen boss.

As Judy and Nick walked over to the furthest booth on the left hand side Gideon moved for the first time and quickly moved back behind the counter and through the door. Everything was quiet for a few seconds before there was the sound of multiple objects falling and being thrown about.

"So much for those anger management classes" Judy muttered as she took her seat directly opposite Nick "Thank you" she said to Nick as he turned back to face her after turning around at the sounds of Gideon's meltdown.

"What for?" Nick questioned innocently as if they had no trouble at all from anyone

"For standing up to Gideon" Judy clarified to Nick as she laid her paws on the table

"Ohhh that? That was nothing, just a simple hustle" Nick said nonchalantly as he put his paws on his lap and drummed his digits against his leg

Judy looked at him quizzically and opened her mouth to ask Nick but he was already explaining before she uttered a single syllable

"A hustle is when you create yourself an advantage through someone's mistakes slash misfortune, for example, his mistake was not serving prey mammals and committing a crime in front of an officer of the law and the advantage it gave us was a meal but it can also be used to gain you some extra money"

"Had to bust a few hustles?" Judy asked once is explanation had finished

"Promise you won't judge or tell anyone if I'm honest?" Nick asked seemingly out of nowhere and surprised the bunny before she gave a nod of the head

"Before I became a cop about...10 months ago I use to be a street hustler" Nick said and let his words hang in the air "Me and my friend scammed people out of their money through simple acts like card tricks to trying to buy a jumbo pop for my son who is from the orphanage and wants to be an elephant and I ended up forgetting my wallet, I'm not proud of what I did but I did what I had to"

Judy was taken aback by the sudden truth bomb from the fox across from her and it only made her want to know more information "But why did you have to do it?"

Nick took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he prepared himself to explain all about Zootopia and it's prejudice "In Zootpoia, foxes are one of the least credible species, it doesn't matter who you ask, all foxes are sly, sneaky, cunning, conniving, up to no good and who knows what else is said behind our back. After one too many job positions refused to me just because of who I am I gave up and started to express the stereotypes"

"But that all stopped when you became a cop right?" Judy questioned hopefully

"Just because one mammal is different doesn't make up for a whole species, people still don't believe that I went through the whole academy, instead they think that I either slept with someone in power to get the job, threatened someone in power to get the job or just cheated my way through the academy"

In truth Nick was surprised himself at how honest he was being but didn't see the harm in doing so, it didn't feel like he was sharing the information with a stranger, instead it felt like he was sharing the information with someone he could truly trust

"Nick I'm so sorry" Judy said gently and slowly got out of her seat and mover to sit next to Nick before he even realized that she had moved. When she took he new seat she rested a raw on his arm in attempts to give him some comfort.

They stayed in silence for a moment and when Nick opened his mouth to speak Matt came over carry two different plates "Here you go, sorry for all the trouble you had to go through for this, if you want I can give you a discount"

"ohhh no it's fine Matt, I wouldn't even be able to accept a discount because of my job" Nick spoke as he turned to look at the wolf

"I can though" Judy spoke up as she looked into Nick's eyes with her own purple ones

"Yes but I wouldn't be a gentlemammal if I let the woman take the bill would I" Nick said to Judy and was happy to see the light tint of pink growing in her fur before he turned to the wolf "Thanks for the offer Matt but I think that old Grinch back their needs the money"

"Are you sure?" Matt asked with a look of surprise as his offer was denied

"100%" Nick responded

When Matt had made his way back to the counter Nick reached for one of his slices and put it back down when he noticed a little piece of paper under it. Slowly picking it up as Judy seemed to stand up next to him to try and see it for herself as Nick read the piece of paper quietly but loud enough so Judy could hear "Be careful with the carrot slice"

Nick and Judy looked at each other, both showing looks of confusion before Nick slowly picked up the piece of carrot pie and gave it a few sniffs, moving his snout closer each time until it was mere centimeters away from it. Suddenly he pulled his head back with a look of disgust as he pushed the plate away to the other end of the table "Yeah you're not eating that"

"What's wrong with it?" Judy asked as she looked at the slice of pie before turning her attention to Nick as he piked the slice up and moved the plate back to between them

"Carrots were expired and could have made you seriously ill" he said simply as He picked up one of his blueberry slices and put it on the second plate before pushing it towards Judy "Don't try and argue about it, I had my suspicions he might try something" He stated before Judy could even start to protest "I wouldn't be able to eat two slices anyway" Nick said as he took the first bite of his pie.

Judy slowly followed after and took a smaller bite. They both sat in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each others company and closeness until Nick finally spoke up as he whipped his mouth with the corner of one of the napkins they were given "Judy, please be honest with me" He stated and was about to say more but Judy quickly spoke up

"I always am Nick" she said before she too whipped at her mouth with a napkin

"I wasn't finished" Nick said and when Judy gave him an apologetic look he continued "What happened to your dream?"

Judy became as still as a statue at the unexpected question but released a sigh as her arms and ears dropped down "I guess it's only fair that I'm honest with you since you were honest with me"

"I have tried to sign up for the ZPA through their websites online applications for about a year now and have been rejected every time because I'm a bunny and they say they don't need someone my size" Judy's eyes started to become teary as she started to rub her eyes with her paws

"You don't have to tell me now if you don't want to" Nick offered gently as he took a hold of her wrists and set her paws down and wiped away at her tears himself

"No Nick, It's only fair" she stated as Nick wiped her tears away and laid his hand over hers and took a hold of them gently to provide comfort "A few days ago they denied the last application form I sent and the chief of precinct one, I forgot his name but anyway, he said that if anymore forms sent under my name were sent they were just going to ignore them, not even bother rejecting them"

With what Judy was saying Nick felt even worse. He had been able to get this pore does dream job just because he had been kitnapped by the mafia and forced to join the police to be their mammal on the inside. The fact that Nick knew she would be better than him in every way needed to be a cop gave him an uneasy feeling.

"What are you going to do now?" Nick asked and started to regret asking as thought of her answer went through his head

Judy took a moment to respond "I have no idea" was all she said before she picked up the little remains of her pie and started eating again, Nick following in the same fashion

"Tell me about your family" Nick piped up as they both finished their pie in silence

"What?" Judy asked surprised at the out of nowhere question

"I want to know more about your family, I'm sure if they gave birth to someone so cheerful and generally good there must be so many other crazy characters"

"You want to know about all 354 members of my family?" Judy asked with the same amount of shock evident in her voice and on her face

Nick's eyes widened at the reveal of how big Judy's family was "354? I mean I knew there was a lot just at the size of your home but jeez, maybe we could just start with your littermates and slowly work our way up"

"Well In my Litter was me, Jack, Jake, James and Jasmin" Judy stated as she counted on her finger "that is from the youngest to the oldest, Jasmin is off with some buck married with last time I hear 20 or so kits, James is married to some doe with 13 kits last time we were informed, Jack still works on the family farm and Jake works for 'FoxAway' making...anti...fox...equipment" Judy said as her voice slowly dropped at the realisation of what she was saying

"Well then, tell both Jasmin and James that I wish them luck with their families, Tell Jack that I wish him luck in his harvest or whatever, just make it sound like I know what I'm on about and tell Jake to stop giving his dad equipment to use against us poor defenseless foxes" Nick said trying to go for humour to lighten the situation

"Nick I'm sorry, I didn't even realize what I was saying and it all just came out and..."

"Fluff, I have had more encounters with a FoxAway product than I care to remember, don't worry about it, tell him good luck in finding a doe or something like that" Nick said before he stretched his arms and placed his paws against the table "you ready to go?"

"Yeah" Judy responded as she slowly slid out of the booth "I think my legs have gone dead from sitting on just so I could see the table"

"You go wait in the cruiser, I'll go pay" Nick said as he stood up in front of Judy and stretched his legs a little

"Are you sure? I can give you some money to help pay" Judy offered as she began to reach into one of her pockets

"I'm sure carrots, it's the least I can do" Nick said as he walked up to the counter where Matt leaned against it while playing on his phone again

Judy had left and gone to the cruiser as she let her thought run, how she had just told a fox about her crushed dream, how she had listened to the same fox tell the story about his past and how she had held hands with the same fox.

When Nick reached the counter he pulled out a $10 dollar bill and placed it next to Matt "Thanks for the tip" He said while gesturing towards the bin which the slice of carrot pie now lay in "the change is yours, use it however you want" Nick said before turning around and walking back to the cruiser after exchanging goodbyes with Matt

"If I find a way out of this situation, she will be a cop if it's the last thing I do" he muttered under his breath


	11. The Truth Comes Out

**AN:** Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

So this is the space I will use for a quick shameless plug. I have published a new story called "Short Story: Songs" (Or the unofficial abbreviation "SSS") It's just a collection of one shots based on the names of songs and the rest is completely up to me to interpret.

I apologize for how poor the last chapter was written especially towards the end. I didn't allow myself the sleep I needed and didn't bother to proofread it before updating it, one of my biggest mistakes that I hope never happens again

Sooooo... Nick finally drops the truth bomb on Judy...

Some may see this as overreacting but who cares because Cimar Of Turalis WildeHopps had favorited this story and I couldn't even think straight for a few minutes, possibly even a few hours. Anyway if you don't know who he is (somehow) you should check him out as he is one of the main reasons why I started writing this, even if it wasn't my original idea for a fanfic.

 **Reviews:**

 **Pale Rider (Guest):** I always try to update on a weekday and at the weekend but sometimes miss updates. Thank you for the recap of the chapter and I wonder if Nick can help Judy achieve her dream. As for the misspelling, I was very tired at the time and that must have affected my writing.  
As for where it goes from here... you're just going to have to sit back and wait to find that out

 **GhostWolf88:** I do intend to finish this story no matter what.

 **Boissey:** I hope that he lived up to expectations, I tried to make him more than just a generic background character. As for Judy's reaction... read on and you shall find that out for yourself and you're right, there are so many possibilities that I'm 100% confident that what I do go with will be completely unexpected

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 11: The Truth Comes Out

As Nick entered the police cruiser he looked over to his right and noticed the bunny staring out the window at the store they had just exited. She seemed to be deep in thought and Nick waited for a minute, expecting her to come back to the real world and notice his arrival. When she seemed to still be in her own world after a few minutes Nick's patience grew thin.

"Carrots" He said softly as he reached over and gently put his paw on her shoulder. The sudden contacts seemed to cause the doe to jump a little before she turned and looked at him

"Nick, how long have you been here?" she questioned as she turned and repositioned herself so she was facing Nick

Nick gave off a shrug as he responded "I don't know, five minutes or something like that"

Judy's ears fell back as she lowered her head and spoke in a low voice "sorry I was just...remembering some not so pleasant times"

Nick lifted his head and looked back at the store, not moving his gaze as he spoke "I'm guessing that they were about your experience with Gideon"

Judy nodded her head slowly as she spoke softly and quietly "I have had the displeasure of knowing him since I was nine, fifteen years ago"

An uneasy silence took over the vehicle as Nick started it and started to drive off slowly towards the centre of the town where they had agreed that they would start their small tour.

Nick decided to break the silence as they came to a stop at a red light "Wanna tell me about some of these experiences? or at least offer some type of information about why he is the way he is"

Judy opened her mouth to talk but found herself stopping as she saw a small group of four bunnies walk down the street in their direction. She looked at the group that consisted of two bucks and two does. When Judy recognized one of the bucks she quickly ducked down in her seat and curled up in a ball in attempts to make herself as small as she could to lessen the chances of being spotted.

Nick turned his head at the sudden quick movement from his passenger and gave her a confused look that seemed to ask her "are you crazy?" when she peeked out from behind her ears.

"What are you doing?"

"The group of bunnies coming down the path is looking for me, or at least I think they are. The tallest of the four is Jack and I didn't tell anyone I left the house and if they managed to get in my room and realize that I'm not there they would start to panic and send out people to look for me. But even if they think I'm still in my room and see me out in town with the fox officers who my father tried to kill twice and once with a farming tool they will call my parents and within the minute they would be dragging me home"

Nick gave a slow nod and turned to look at the group of bunnies that Judy was on about but couldn't see any. Turning back to Judy as he looked at her with amusement "Carrots, you're seeing things, there is no group of bunnies"

"Really?" Judy asked as she started to rise up but stopped when her ears twitched at the sound of the passenger door being knocked on.

Suddenly Judy launched at Nick and burrowed herself between the foxes body and the driver door. All while Nick tried not to laugh too loud at the sight before him. Without intending to Nick found himself staring at Judy's tail as it poked out a little. He was pulled out of his staring as the knock on the passenger door was repeated.

Shimmying along the seats, Nick rolled down the window as he balanced a pair of sunglasses on his snout and looked down at the group of bunnies, the tallest of the four, Jack looking at the fox with disgust "How may I help you all today?" Nick asked casually.

When he got no answer Nick was going to ask the question again but Jack spoke confidently "We are looking for my sister Judy and we believe that you have reason to have seen her recently"

Nick put on his default hustler smile as he watched Jack's show of bravery for standing up to a fox while his friends seemed to back away "Haven't seen her since your old man chased me off for who knows what reason"

Jack put on a look of annoyance and went to walk away but stopped himself as he turned to look at Nick again and spoke in a deep and threatening tone "If I find out you did anything to my sister, it's not my father you will have to worry about" and with that he walked off with his friends slowing following behind.

When Nick finally went back into the vehicle he turned around and saw Judy sitting normally with her paws holding onto the steering wheel in front of her as she kicked her hind paws in the air as she turned and looked at Nick "Sorry you had to meet Jack like that, he is very protective and caring and sometimes says something without thinking and he..."

"Don't worry fluff" Nick cut her off "I actually liked him" he said while taking the glasses off and putting them back where he had found them

Judy gave him a look of surprise as she tried to figure out if he was lying or not "Really?" she asked after giving up on observing Nick

"Yeah, I don't mind protective and caring, I would say he's a lot like me actually" Nick said before he looked at the side mirror and saw that the group had fully disappeared "foxes are naturally protective and territorial of those they care for so I can relate to how he feels"

Judy just nodded her head as she went back to looking out the windshield

Nick started to move back into the drivers seat when he stopped and looked out the windshield "This is the longest red light I have ever been in"

"Ohhh no it changed when you were talking to Jack so I put your indicator on so others could drive past" Judy said as she stopped moving her hind paws and stood up on the chair

Just as Judy said this the light started to change and Judy quickly looked at Nick "you get the pedals, I'll decide where we are going"

Nick gave her a small salute as he jumped down and stood on the mat of the wolf sized police cruiser, his chest coming up to the seat as he slowly pushed down on the gas pedal and got the vehicle in motion.

* * *

During the day Judy had taken Nick to some of the more memorable parts of Bunnyburrow. From the statue in the middle of the town that was dedicated to everyone who was a casualty in times of war, to the Bunnyburrow school and other such places, Nick giving Judy his undivided attention. It had came to a slow end when Judy and Nick had gotten a large pizza to share during the trip back to Judy's home.

Nick was a bit annoyed that the place had only vegetarian options but when he remembered that he was in a town that the majority of the population was bunnies, he understood why.

They ate the pizza in a comfortable silence with the roar of the cruiser's engine making the only noise except for the few crunches when either fox or bunny bit into the crust of a pizza slice.

"Say Judy" Nick started immediately getting Judy's attention with the use of her name "you never told me what happened between you and Gideon"

Judy took a moment to realize that he was right. She never told him why she got such a cold reception from Gideon earlier in the day.

"Well, when I was nine me and my friends put on this performance for the annual carrot day festival an-"

"Hold on" Nick said, interrupting Judy "annual carrot day festival?" Nick asked which got a nod of Judy's head and Nick had to try to hold in the urge to just burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of having a festival dedicated to carrots in a town full of bunnies

"What's so funny about that?" Judy asked at the reaction she had expected to get from the fox

"Nothing, please continue your story" Nick said as he slowly gained control over his laughs

"Anyway, the performance was about how we evolved as mammals and how we didn't have to be how others saw us, one of my friends who was apart of the performance Jaguar and before you ask, yes he was a jaguar" Judy said as she saw Nick open his mouth "he said he didn't have to be a lonely hunter anymore and that he is going to be an actuary. My other friend, Sharla said that because she was a sheep she didn't have to cower in a herd anymore and that she could instead be an astronaut. When it came to me I said how I was going to be a police officer in Zootopia"

Judy stopped talking for a moment at the mention of wanting to be a cop. Despite how long she was given to think it over she would never get used to not being able to do what she had dreamed so much remained quiet and patient knowing that it was still a sensitive subject.

Once Judy recovered she went straight back to tell her story "Anyways, Gideon was there and he tried to insult me about my dreams and humiliate me in front of everyone for thinking about such things but I had a comeback on the tip of my tongue and he wasn't pleased. Fast forward 10 minutes and he had stolen my friend's festival tickets. I went to get them back, he pushed me on the floor and I kicked him in the face, in retaliation he...he clawed at my face and gave me a scar, three marks on my left cheek"

Nick winced at the mention of claw marks, he had seen what they had done to his mother all them years ago and he could only imagine how much it must have hurt for someone small. His face must have shown how he felt as Judy began to clarify

"He didn't cut into any skin, just grazed against it, no blood or anything thankfully"

Nick found himself giving a slow nod of the head as he looked at Judy, trying to see if the claw marks were visible but from his position on the floor, it was almost impossible

* * *

Soon the cruiser was coming to a stop a little down the road from Judy's home. They didn't want to avoid any suspicion and despite Judy being in a better mood, she didn't want to confront her family. Especially since she knew that they knew she was no longer in her room.

As they came to a stop Judy moved to the passenger seat as Nick pulled himself up onto the drivers seat.

"Thanks for such a fun day Nick" Judy said as she turned her head to face him

"No problem Carrots" Nick said and then everything was awkward.

It felt like something special was meant to happen, Nick knew what this was but couldn't bring himself to do it. Especially with what he would have to do.

Judy started to reach for the door but froze when Nick quickly reached out and took a hold of her wrist. Judy slowly turned around and saw the look on Nick's face, it showed that he was having an internal war, about what she didn't fully know but she did have her suspicions.

"Nick, what's-"

"Judy, I have to tell you something" Nick quickly cut her off. He was fully serious. From the use of her name, his tone and the look on his face, nothing seemed to say what he was about to say next was a joke

Nick took a deep breath and closed his eyes and to make sure there was no escaping from this talk, he quietly locked the doors. He didn't know if Judy heard it but he didn't give her time to question it.

"Ju...Judy I...I killed...I killed Darren"

There were a few moments of silence and Nick tensed in every second until Judy's soft spoken voice spoke out.

"I know Nick"

The foxes eyes shot open and he looked at the bunny with surprise "How?" he questioned in a slightly shaky voice

Judy reached into her back pocket of her jeans and handed Nick the piece of paper which he took with reluctance as she spoke "This fell out of your pocket before you went to the Jummps family"

Nick stared at the picture and the drawings that he had done to try and create some form of comfort and forget about it. He turned it over and looked at the letter and he scammed over it, not taking any of the information in as he had sat down and read through it multiple times and could probably recite it word by word.

Nick jumped as Judy placed a paw over his and raised his gaze to meet her curious amethyst eyes "Why Nick?" she questioned simply "Who is Mr. Big and why did he get you to kill Darren?" Judy asked in the same soft spoken voice

Nick took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the explanation of a lifetime "Mr. Big is one of the most feared crime bosses in Zootopia, he essentially controls Tundratown and before I knew who he was we had crossed paths. It was about 10 months ago I saw him as another easy hustle and he asked for a premium rug made from artificial materials. As a part of the hustle me and my friend gave him a rug from the butt of a skunk, we thought we were safe until one night two of his polar bear henchmen took me off the streets to his manor"

"When I arrived there I was threatened to be iced if I didn't do what he wanted me to" as Nick saw Judy slightly quizzical gaze he knew what she was wondering "Being iced is when you are dropped into a pit of freezing cold water that would kill someone my size in about 10 seconds, for you it would be more instant. But anyway I didn't want to die so as apart of his scheme he got me to join the police force to be his mammal on the inside and tell him if anyone caught wind of what he was doing"

"Once I finished the academy he told me about Darren, he had taken a loan from Mr. Big and made no attempts to pay it back so I was sent to do the dirty work and kill the poor kit. I hadn't slept and the first time I got sleep was the first day I arrived here for my investigation"

"There's more" Judy stated softly, trying to be as encouraging and comforting as possible

"Technically I'm not finished with doing Mr. Big's dirty work" Nick confessed and leaned back against the driver side door and closed his eyes "He said he wanted any witnesses dead and...you reported his disappearance...that makes you a... a witness" Nick started to struggle with what he was saying as a few tears started to roll down his cheek

"You have to kill me" Judy stated simply and got a very slow head nod from Nick

They stayed in silence. Nick had his eyes shut and had expected Judy to have already started running away from him so when he opened his eyes he was surprised that Judy was still sitting in front of him, still looking as gentle and caring as before

She slowly stood up and grabbed Nick's paws in hers and looked him deep in the eyes "Do it" she whispered

Nick froze when Judy requested this and he looked at his paws. Judy slowly raised his paws so that his claws were pressed against each side of her neck and she closed her eyes, waiting for the fox to make his move.

Nick kept his paws there for all of a few moments before he dropped them and put them on his knees that where now placed up to his chest

"Nick-"

"I can't Judy" Nick said quietly as more tears started to go down his cheek

"Nick you have to" Judy said as she went to grab his paws again but found him moving them behind his back so that she couldn't grab them

"No I don't!" Nick said in a raised voice before he lowered it and continued to speak "I was at the police station today because I was going to turn myself in and get you placed under witness protection"

"Nick, it's for your life, please just do it for me" Judy begged as she lowered herself onto her knees in front of Nick

When Nick gave no response Judy sighed and slowly brought herself to her feet."I don't want to do this Nick but you leave me no choice" she said as she walked to the passenger seat and reached into the glove compartment, pulling out the tranquilizer that she had discovered while Nick was paying for their pie.

She placed the tranq in Nick's lap and Nick looked at it before looking at Judy "The dosage is too high and will kill me on impact" she stated

"I know" Nick replied quietly as he stared at the weapon and picked it up in his paw and went to remove the cartridge but a small grey paw stopped him

"Nick, you remember earlier, the little bet we had?" Judy asked

Nick nodded his head and stared deeply into the purple eyes he grew to love

"Do you remember what the loser would have to do?" Judy continued to ask

Nick nodded his head slowly "yeah, they would do anything for the winner, where are you going with this Judy?"

"If I remember correctly, I was the winner and you were the loser" she stated simply

Nick remained silent and nodded his head when he felt it was his turn to contribute to the conversation

"Nick" Judy stated softly and removed the foxes paw from the cartridge and placed it on the trigger "I want you to shoot me with the tranquilizer"


	12. Creating A Plan

**AN:** Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

So I'm not going to lie, I was tempted to make everyone wait longer for an update but when I talked to a friend about it he said it was a dick move and that I shouldn't be a dick. So you can thank him for the on-time update. I would say his name but he doesn't have an account and It wouldn't be fair for me to use his real name.

 **Reviews:**

 **Boissey:** I found myself laughing your review a bit too much. I can think of something that will make you go "WOW" but for the wrong reason, I could just leave this unfinished and on such a cliffhanger as well...

 **Camoss:** I wasn't trying to show Judy as suicidal but I only touched upon her reasons last chapter, I delve into it a bit more in this one but I do overall agree with what AnimeFan51 and Cimar had said

 **AnimeFan51** : Glad you were able to see where I was coming from in terms of Judy's actions in as little reason as I gave and I do touch upon her reasoning more in this chapter

 **Cimar Of Turalis WildeHopps:** Is that speciesm towards Nick? I expected better from you Cimar...but does he have a plan? let's wait and find out. Ahhh the tags nice deduction I should have temporarily changed one of them so you wouldn't be so confident.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 12: Creating A Plan

"Judy for the last time I'm not going to do it" Nick said as he stared at Judy who was sitting right in front of him, her paws still pushing the tranquilizer in Nick's hands at her chest. Judy had been trying to convince Nick to shot her for a minimum of 5 minutes now but neither of them were paying attention to how long they were arguing

"Nick please, I'm doing it for-"

"I'm not doing it Judy" Nick shouted which caught Judy by surprise and made her grip on the tranq loosen. Taking his moment, Nick moved the tranq away from Judy and quickly opened the door behind him to throw the tranquilizer out of Judy's reach.

When Judy realized what Nick was doing it was too late. The door was closed again and all doors were once again locked. Judy looked at Nick with surprise evident on her face.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you" Nick said which while calming Judy, also shocked her a little. She opened her mouth to ask but didn't get to utter a single syllable before Nick continued "It was the only way I could think of getting you to let go of that...thing"

Nick and Judy stayed quiet for a few moments, both looking into each other's eyes, communicating with each other non-verbally. Nick had a look that asked "Why?" over and over again. Judy held an intimidating look that kept telling Nick "Do it"

Judy's look instantly softened when the fox in front of her did something she did not expect. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Judy and leaned back again, causing Judy to stand up again and step in between his legs. He rested his forehead against Judy's shoulder as a fresh wave of tears came out. Judy was shocked at first but when she realized what happened she slowly hugged Nick back and slowly ran her paw down his head.

"Why Judy?" Nick asked, his voice slightly shaky from his tears but the doe still heard him loud and clear.

Judy took a deep breath and had to try and stop herself from releasing a few tears "Nick" she spoke gently and softly. Judy took a step back but still remained close enough so that they were still embracing each other. She gently lifted Nick's head with her paws and held it up so that she could look down into his teary eyes. "Nick I am about to say why you should do what you have to and you better listen closely because I won't say it all twice"

When Nick gave a slow nod, Judy took a deep breath and found her throat becoming dry but she ignored it and continued.

"Let's start with what's obvious" Judy started and kept eye contact with Nick the whole time "If what you said was true and I'm not saying that just because you're a fox, even the letter backs you up. If this Mr. Big wants me dead then if you fail he would just send another one of his goons and I'm sure they won't even hesitate to do it, no matter how many witnesses would be there"

"If he hears you have turn yourself in then we don't know what he would do to get to you and then we don't know what he would do to you. Chances are he would kill you, then I would be killed and that would be two more dead mammals where as if you were to just do the job it would only be one dead mammal"

Nick opened his mouth to talk but upon seeing the look Judy was giving him he closed his mouth and waited for her to continue.

"Ever since I was nine I have wanted to be a cop and make the world a better place but I can't do that Nick, but you can. You can do what I can't and help those who need it and I'm certain that in the future you will be able to arrest whoever Mr. Big is and then you won't have to do what he wants anymore, Nick ple-"

"That's the thing Judy, I only became a cop because I had to, I never thought of being one and now I have to live knowing that someone who wanted to do it for their whole life can't because of some stupid prejudice buffalo who won't even give them a chance"

"I became a cop because of Mr. Big, he wanted a mammal on the inside so that he could know if anyone was getting suspicious about him and if it wasn't for Mr. Big I wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be talking about this

Judy stayed quiet as Nick talked and was thinking of how to reply when Nick started talking again

"Judy, I can make you cop, I can get this situation completely sorted out, both of us will be safe all you have to do is trust me Judy" Nick paused as he studied the look on Judy's face that showed curiosity, interest but also annoyance "Can you do that Judy"

"Nick, I'm not going to let you turn yourself in, no matter what points you bring up"

"No Judy listen, I don't need to anymore because this smart fox has figured out a plan" He said with confidence that seemed to come out of nowhere

"Nick I swear if this plan of yours is something stupid I will go out there, get the tranquilizer and do the job for you" Judy said as she was suddenly pulled forward back into the fox again who held onto her tightly.

Nick chuckled at the look on the startled does face as she had fallen and now had her head on his chest as he smiled down at her "Don't worry Judy, I think you will like this plan"

* * *

Judy stared wide eyed at Nick who was now standing up while leaning against the door behind him. He had gotten up to his hind paws while he was explaining his plan and gave a few visual demonstration of events that would happen when he was not walking back and forth on the two seats at the front of the cruiser.

"Nick that is...actually a very good idea" she said as a small smile came across her face.

Nick nodded at the bunny before he started to look at the dashboard of the vehicle "what can I say Carrots? foxes are smart" he said before opening the glove compartment and started to frantically move everything out of it as he started to look for something

"What are you looking for?" Judy asked as she walked beside Nick and looked into the messy glove compartment

"I'm looking for a small pitch black phone, I need to make a call to a friend" Nick said as he grabbed a random book that he didn't care to read the title off and threw it over his head

Judy took a step back and walked onto the driver seat and picked up Nick's phone which he had placed down while explaining his plan "Nick your phone is right here" she said as she walked back and looked at the phone "I'm a bit shocked that you don't know the colour of your phone though because this..." she said as she put the phone in front of Nick's muzzle "is silver"

Nick just smiled smugly as he took the phone out of the does paw "Thank you Carrots but thats not the phone I'm after"

"You have two phones?" Judy questioned with a look of shock, confusion and some jealousy on her face

"Only because I had to Carrots" Nick stated easily before he closed the glove compartment and unlocked the passenger door while motioning for Judy to follow him as they walked towards the back of the vehicle "I have this phone that I use for general stuff like social media, random messages and phone calls but I also have a different phone. It's very rare to come across but is very useful for hustlers and it's called a 'Black Cellphone' I know, very creative but anyways everything you do on it is completely private, untraceable by anyone. This is what I would use to discuss hustles with my friend and some not-so-legal matters"

Judy looked at Nick as he opened the trunk of the cruiser and she took in everything she could. The fox had a phone that couldn't be traced by anyone. Not by cops, government, military or any nosy mammals who would try and hack into their phone. "So your telling me that somewhere in Zootopia there is a company that makes illegal phones that can not be traced and you just so happen to own one"

Nick paused his searching for a moment before going back to looking "Well it's not really a company but more just a small team of around five or six mammals who want to make life easier for criminals. But last I checked they are VERY expensive to make and if you wish to buy one yourself you would need a small fortune and that's if they actually...wait hold on...found it!"

Nick emerged back out of the trunk with a small black phone in hand and he moved his digits across the screen in a quick succession. Once Nick was in the phone he immediately went to his contacts where only one number was there labeled "Finnick BCP"

He held the phone up to his ear but upon seeing the curious look on Judy's face he did a quick search around the area before putting the phone on speaker so she could hear.

 _"Nick I thought you was a cop, why are you using this old thing?"_ a deep voice asked over the line as it was picked up and Judy was surprised by how deep it was and assumed that it must be coming from a larger mammal.

"Hey Finnick buddy, yeah I'm still a cop, me and my friend just need help with a situation we are in and the methods we chose are...well not illegal but if it was traced it would put an end to our plan" Nick paused and just before Finnick responded he started talking again "Ohhh Fin by the way you are on speaker and I have failed to make introduction" He said as he looked up to Judy and winked at her "Judy this is the voice of Finnick, my life long hustler friend"

"Uhhhh...Hi..." Judy said as she was caught by surprise at being given the opportunity to talk in a serious situation that she knew nothing about

"And Finnick that was the voice of Judy, the mammal who is currently stuck in this situation with"

The other end of the line was silent for a surprisingly tense moment before Finnick started talking again _"Does she know about-"_

"Yes Finnick she knows about my situation with Mr. Big and that is why we need your help, she is a witness and you know how Big works and I just can't bring myself to do it, she even told me to do it but I refused"

"It's true" Judy said as she stood next to Nick "He's just too much of a softy" she said which earned her a hurt glare from Nick as he placed his free paw on his chest and opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Finnick's laughter

Once the laughter subsided and Finnick now had control over himself he finally responded _"You can say that again"_ which started off another set of laughs and Nick and Judy turned to look at each other.

Nick was confused why Finnick started laughing again and so was Judy. Slowly smiles came across both their faces and they tried to fight back the urge to laugh at their friend laughing over nothing.

They almost failed but was saved when Finnick became serious again _"Ok so, you need my help with getting away from a mammal who is trying to kill you both and the way you are going at it is questionable to say the least"_

"Yes" both Nick and Judy responded at the same time and looked at each other weirdly

There was muttering over the phone that neither picked up fully but Judy did get snippets of what he said. Something along the lines of "Foxes never changing" and "Nick's stupid charm with ladies"

 _"What do you need?"_

"First we need you to rent us a car, not for long, just a couple days like... a week max" Nick said as he looked back at the cruiser "Make sure it's fox sized, I don't want to spend another minute in a vehicle that is too big for me to drive comfortably and I don't want to entertain the idea of driving a car that is too small"

 _"What else?"_

"I need you to call up Carl and get him to delete everything the ZPD has about someone named Judy Hopps and of course me, If the name is so much as written down I want it gone, especially on a file they will have dedicated to the murder of Darren Jummps"

 _"Wait, wait, wait hold on"_ Finnick said as Nick took a second to breath _"You want Carl to hack into ZPD files just to delete everything about two names?"_

"Well there was more to say before you decided to talk" Nick said back "I also need him to create a fake ID, Passport, Drivers license bank account and all that. I need him to make it all for someone called 'Nick Wylde' with a Y instead of an I"

Judy touched Nick on the arm gently and spoke in a voice that she didn't realize was quiet "I don't have some of that stuff"

Nick looked at Judy "Could have said it yourself fluff" he said before bringing the phone between them and spoke into it "What every he makes for 'Nick Wylde' he needs to make for 'Judy Hopps' as in 'H-O-P-"

 _"Yeah, yeah I know how to spell"_ Finnick interrupted over the phone _"I'll get you a car and put it near where we dumped the body, down the dirt track behind the sign marking Zootopia being 200 miles away, but not as far down, I'll call Carl and see what he can get done for you two but is there anything else you need doing?"_ Finnick asked with a little annoyance in his voice

Nick looked at Judy for a moment. He hadn't realized but at some point she had grabbed his other phone and was now inputting something into the screen. He didn't move his attention from Judy as he spoke "two things actually, I need the car there by tomorrow night, message me when it is there and I need to meet up with you and Carl at the old warehouse in the rainforest district"

 _"I will have it all sorted by the time you get that tail of yours here, but I have to go now so ciao"_ he said before hanging up and leaving Nick and Judy by themselves

Nick let out a loud breath of air "No turning back now"

Judy gently threw Nicks phone onto his chest and smiled innocently at him "You need a better password, 'Nick is Wilde' isn't exactly hard to guess and you really need to set a background image"

Once Judy was finished chastising Nick on his phone they had gone over their plan a few times just to make sure that they knew what was going to happen and when. They had finally called it a night when Judy let out a loud and long yawn that was followed by a quieter and shorter yawn from Nick.

"Go to bed Carrots"

"When you go to bed I will" Judy replied as she rubbed at her eyes

"I'm already in my bed" Nick responded instantly with a tired grin on his face

Judy tried to think of something to say in response but after a whole minute of trying to think of what to say she gave up "Fine, I will be seeing you tomorrow though"

"Yeah, yeah whatever Carrots" Nick replied as he started to lay down on one of the seats while Judy headed for her home.

* * *

Judy got into her room five minutes later and was thankful that she avoided any siblings or parents. When she got in she put her makeshift lock back on but made sure it was extra locked by putting another chair in the way.

Judy slowly climbed onto her bed and stared up into the ceiling before pulling her phone out and messaging a newly added contact: Nick Wilde

"Hi! guess who's got your number :)"

it took a while but Nick had eventually responded

 _"So that's what you was doing with my phone"_

"Yep :) as I said you need a better password, wouldn't want anyone taking your number without permission"

 _"Geez wonder who would do that"_

"Maybe some lady-fox that's interested in you"

Again it a while a moment for Nick to respond and it wasn't what Judy was expecting

 _"Go to sleep Carrots"_

"I can't"

 _"It's been five mins since you left, you haven't tried to sleep"_

"Have so"

 _"Fluff, your arguing like a five year old, you are VERY tired"_

It was true, Judy had to stop herself from falling asleep during her impromptu texting session with Nick

"Fine"

 _"Goodnight Carrots"_

"Goodnight Slick"

Judy put her phone and snuggled up against her bunny plushies and tried to get to sleep but felt like she had to do something. Mind half awake and half asleep, Judy picked up her phone again and sent what was meant to be a few meaningless texts

"Hey Nick?"

 _" *sigh* What Carrots?"_

"Really with the *s? but anyway I just wanted to say one last thing..."

"I Love you Nick"

It wasn't until the message was already sent that Judy realized what she had typed and Nick's response only made it worse

 _"I Love you too Carrots"_

"Dumb, stupid, teasing, warm, fluffy, irr...wait what?" Judy spoke quietly to herself before she started typing out her reply

"Nick, I'm sorry I'm like half tired"

It wasn't until she was halfway through continuing what she was going to send next that Nick's response came through

 _"I can tell, and just so you know, I wasn't teasing"_

Judy almost dropped her phone as she read Nick's message over and over again

"Wait, what? Really?"

 _"Goodnight Judy"_

"Nick?"

"Nick please respond"

"I have questions!"

It didn't matter how many more messages Judy sent, Nick didn't respond to a single one and Judy eventually gave up and closed her eyes for sleep. It was almost instant that Judy was deep in sleep with a small smile.

* * *

 **AN:** I have three small points to bring up about the last section

1: I know next to nothing when it comes to text speech. To the point where I haven't once used an emoji and I only know simple abbreviations like LOL

2: This section was inspired by an incident I myself was in. Just replace Judy with me and replace the happy ending with a not so happy one and you got what happened to me.

3: I added it because not once during the day of their "Date-Not-Date" did either of them say those words (or anything similar) to each other and I felt if it was to stay that way it would have just been seen as two friends having a day out.


	13. Stage One

**AN: **Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

 **Reviews:**

 **GhostWolf88:** It's going to keep going until it ends, which then it will be replaced by a new project

 **Toons Girl:** I think Judy is new to confessing her feelings towards someone and it is true, guys like honesty

 **Cimar Of Turalis WildeHopps:** When does Nick not have a plan? As long as they don't have to go to TundraTown they should be fine... hopefully, they don't have to go there for some reason

 **Renegade (Guest):** Nick and that smooth silver tongue, always getting him out of bad situations. I don't think Ellie will be too happy if she finds out about her sister and "Officer Foxy". Nick better hope that his plan is well thought out or it will only get worse for the two of them.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 13: Stage One

When Judy had finally given up trying to get Nick to message her back she had found sleep easily. She no longer had to fight back the thoughts of a certain fox cop. She could now think freely of him with no fear of if her feeling were mutual or one-way.

She was a little sad but was more annoyed when she woke up to the sound of pawsteps running past her door. Slowly rising from her bed, Judy stood in front of the mirror and stretched her arms out before looking herself over in the mirror.

Judy grabbed her brush that was always placed in the same spot on the desk next to the mirror and she started to brush her fur down to appear presentable to anyone she came across. Her brushing came to an abrupt end when her she received a notification through her phone.

Judy practically jumped at her phone and quickly unlocked her phone to see a new message from Nick. She didn't need to open her texts up as she had left them on screen before she had fallen asleep. There just below her tired confession of love and multiple texts asking Nick to respond was a new message:

 _"Car is in place, I'm ready for this whenever you are Fluff"_

Judy was quick to write out her response as she went back to her previous task. Brushing her fur with one paw while texting with the other. "Your friends work quick Slick"

Nick's response was just as quick but if not a little slower _"When a brother needs help, family is there no matter what"_

"Do you want to get 'Stage One' ready for 'Stage Two later?"Judy asked as she put her brush down and looked herself over in the mirror before looking for some clothes to wear

 _"What every you do Carrots, don't screw it up and make sure you hide the real one"_

Judy put her phone down as she started to slip into a simple white shirt and given the hot temperature she decided to put on a pair of simple navy blue shorts. When she was fully clothed she reached for her phone and started typing again "Ohhh No I won't hide it"she sent and waited, enjoying the thought of the foxes panicked look, it was when a bubble showing that he was writing a reply that Judy had sent the rest of what she had to say "I'll destroy it"

Just like that, the bubble showing Nick's reply had disappeared before appearing again. Judy had to hide a laugh when the foxes reply finally came through _"Give a fox a heart attack while you're at it"_

"That's my dad's job" Judy replied quickly. Her response was followed by no action from the foxes end and Judy was fine with that, she had more to say "Speaking of, Nick I really wouldn't mind if you arrested him"

Now the bubble had appeared and Nick's reply was quick to follow _"Can we talk about this some other time?"_

"Yeah sure, Just thought I should let you know"

They had spent another ten minutes or so coming up with a story together that Judy could tell her family about her sudden disappearance, reappearance and why she would be disappearing again soon.

Once Judy's story was set she looked at her door and the two chairs before slowly walking towards it and started to move the chairs out of the way before she gripped the door handle and messaged Nick on what she was doing "Stage one begins now, 10-3"

 _"Really? 10-3? What are you know a cop?"_ Nick had responded and it was clear that he was being sarcastic, even through a text his sarcasm was easy to spot.

Without responding, Judy pocketed her phone and opened her bedroom door and started heading down towards where she had guessed everyone would be right now: The dining room.

The closer she got to the dining room, the louder the noise got and that only confirmed Judy's suspicion. Stopping just around the corner, Judy took a deep breath and prepared herself for the influx of question and her parents talking about how worried they were. Quickly going over her story one last time, Judy slowly walked around the corner.

Judy continued walking towards the spot that she always sat in during meals and offered a smile to everyone that she had made eye contact with. Every head had turned around and was now watching her as she walked casually as if there weren't hundreds of bunnies watching her. She had taken her first seat and started to eat some pancakes when her mother's voice came from the hall leading to the kitchen, growing louder by the second.

"Alright, what's happened? Why is everyone quiet? Who smashed a pla-" Bonnie had found her tongue twisted as she saw all of her kits looking at one bunny in particular who had become the news of the burrow quickly after her disappearance.

Judy smiled casually at her mother as she swallowed the pancake that was in her mouth before talking cheerfully "Hi mom!"

Boonie stood frozen in the doorway as she looked at Judy as if she were a ghost. Judy opened her mouth but before she could talk her mother rushed to her and wrapped her in a tight hug. Just as Judy went to return the hug her mother had pushed away and the soft look was now replaced by a stern one.

"Don't you dare run away from home again!" her voice echoed off the walls and Judy was sure that all of her brothers and sisters who were not in the room had heard it.

When Judy spoke it was in a much more calm and gentle voice "Mom I'm sorry but I-"

"Bon what are you shouting about in her-" Much like her mother, Stu had gone silent and froze before wrapping Judy in the tightest hug that he could manage and when he let go, the questioning pursued

"Where had you been? We sent some of your brothers and sisters to look for you"

"It's true Judy, we were scared for you"

"Scared? we were more than just scared Bon, what would we do if a predator got to her"

Bonnie chose to stay quiet as she lowered her head a little at the thought of what would happen to Judy, her father had continued talking

"What would you have done if a bear got you? what about a wolf, cheetah, lion or worse yet, what if Gideon found you by yourself"

"Dad I wasn't-" Judy tried to talk but was cut off by her mother as she stepped closer to Judy, her nose twitching as she took in her daughter's scent...only it was different. While still smelling as sweet as her natural scent, there was something else in the background that seemed familiar for some reason.

Bonnie stopped still when she figured out what the background smell was and her nose started twitching even more. She quickly turned around and looked at her husband before saying loudly "She was with a fox!"

"What!" Stu shouted as soon as his wife was finished before quickly stepping next to Judy and trying to find the fox scent that Bonnie was on about and it didn't take him long "Judy, what were you doing with a fox?" he asked as his own nose started twitching

"It wasn't Gideon was it?"Bonnie asked quickly after Stu and as if it was planned, Stu started talking straight after

"I swear if he harmed my little girl-"

"Mom, Dad, I'm fine, I wasn't with Gideon at all, well not really, we just passed each to her on the street but-"

"Just passing a fox on the street doesn't make his scent mix with your own"

Judy took a deep breath while closing her eyes and letting out a moan as her parents talked to each other. Judy had eventually composed herself enough to talk without coming off as hostile to her parents

"I wasn't finish explaining" she said simple and that seemed to quieten her parents "I wasn't with Gideon for any more than a minute, I was with-"

"You was with Officer Foxy!" a voice shouted from the other end of the hall and Judy resisted the urge to grab the closest plate and throw it at the bunny who had just cut her off "You just couldn't resist him could you?"

Taking a deep breath to once again compose herself, Judy turned and looked at who had interpreted her, she knew who it was from their voice alone but turned around so she would seem more serious. "If we are talking about not being able to resist a fox then I'm sure mom, dad and everyone else would love to hear the conversation you had with me the other day Ellie"

Ellie's ears fell back slightly but quickly snapped back up to their normal height, clearly trying to give off an innocent look "I have no idea what you are talking about Judy"

Judy just smiled smugly before reaching into one of her shorts pockets and pulling out a carrot pen "Ohh really?" she asked before hovering a digit over a button near the top of the pen "Maybe this will refresh your memory"

 _"I just need to ask one very important question that will change my life for the foreseeable future and un-seeable future"_ Came Ellie's voice from the pen, it was slightly muffled from the door that was between her and the recording pen. Real Ellie's ears had dropped quickly and she jumped out of her seat and started to make her way to Judy as quickly and casually as possible

 _"What?"_ came Judy's obviously hurt and dry voice. Anyone with half a mind was able to tell when this conversation had taken place and it only made everyone even more interested

 _"Jeez so much for the build up"_ Came Ellie's quiet voice from the pen as real Ellie had taken the pen out of Judy's paw with no effort. Judy had let her take the pen, she could tell from her mothers face that she had won this argument, no matter what Ellie did.

 _"I just wanted to know-"_ Suddenly the recording was stopped as Ellie held one of her digits over the play/pause button of the pen.

Ellie started to walk back towards her seat, putting the carrot pen into one of her pockets.

She had stopped however when her mother spoke her name "Ellie, come back here with that pen"

Accepting defeat, Ellie walked back to her mother and without being asked, she offered Bonnie the pen before trying to walk away but being stopped by her father this time

"Stay" was all he said and it was clear that it was better to just listen rather than trying to fight.

Judy still held the same satisfied smug smile as her mother started the recording again _"I just wanted to know if foxy cop is finished with you and if he is free for this evening, and the next and the next and so forth"_

There was a pause and Judy took this moment to contribute to the situation "It get's better" If there was even one bunny not in the room at the start, then the whole room was full with everyone that was in the burrow right now

 _"You can have him"_ came Judy's voice and both her mother and father were thankful that she had said that.

After that they had played over the rest of the recording, everyone taking in every detail about the situation and how Ellie's voice seemed to become more cheerful after Judy said she could have the fox. When the recording was finished, both Bonnie and Stu stood frozen, staring at Ellie with judging glares that had a hint of disappointment. Ellie's head was lowered and her ears were over her face trying to hide as much as possible.

Judy stepped forward and took the recording pen from her mother's paw and put it back in the pocket where it had come from "I need this" she had said casually

Bonnie took a deep breath before talking to Ellie as if she was a little kit again "Ellie go to your room, me and your father will be there soon to discuss what...what we had just heard" Ellie just nodded once before slowly walking towards the hall that led towards her bedroom before stopping just before the turn and looking back at Judy

"What about her? She was with him after she had escaped"

"Well you see Ellie" Judy started and went straight into the story she had come up with Nick without being asked to explain herself "The ZPD finally messaged me back saying that they would like to make me apart of the police force but since the academy has already begun they can't let me in during the middle of it for obvious reasons"

"They said that there was an officer in BunnyBurrow who could meet up with me and do some basic tests on me, you know, simple procedures and the physical tests like endurance along with training. I agreed to the meeting and when I got there it had turned out to be Officer WILDE" she said, raising her voice at the foxes last name while giving Ellie a sideways look "Not 'Officer Foxy' or 'The Fox'" this time she shot her father a sideways glance.

"The first day was the theory work, went through a few textbooks, manuals and such while also going over all the codes that I would have to use while on patrol, the second day was the practical training and test. I have some good news as well, when we were finished he said tha-"

"But if the second day was training than how come I saw him in his cruiser at midday?" Jack had piped up from somewhere down the table

Judy just smiled lightly, while they hadn't discussed what she would say if that was brought up, she already knew what she was going to say "We had just finished doing a strength test and I had asked if I could have a look at the inside of his cruiser to try and familiarise myself with all of the controls and all that while we went to a spot where we could do a stamina test" Judy said before turning back to her parents "Now before Jack inturrputed I was about to tell you the good news, Nick has been able to organise a meeting for me with one of the police chiefs to see about me being sent abroad somewhere to train to be a cop, somewhere that hasn't started their training courses yet"

There were a few seconds of silence, Bonnie and Stu staring at each other with fearful looks and the rest was a sea of mixed expressions. There was the odd one or two proud look but the majority didn't really seem to care. "Will the chief be coming here?" Ellie asked from the other end of the hall

"No, I will be going to Zootopia to meet with the chief and before you ask, Nick will be taking me, he said that he solved what happened to Darren but he won't tell me what happened to him"

"Honey, don't you think it's a bit...weird to call the fox-"

"Nick" Judy had interrupted her mother

"Ok, don't you think it's a bit weird to call him Nick?" Bonnie had asked with concern for her kit

"Nope" Judy relied simply while making a popping sound at the 'p' "But I have to get going, I'm meeting with him again for a bit of a last day revision, want to impress who I might be working for in the future"

Judy started to walk out of the hall but stopped when she reached the doorway. She had almost forgotten the one thing that would make sure that 'Stage Two' would happen.

Turning around so she was looking back into the dining room, Judy looked down the table at the other end of the room, thankful for once that Ellie was present. "Ohhh Ellie" she had called out casually

Ellie just raised her head and looked at Judy

When Judy had Ellie's attention she finally said what would set everything in motion "Nick Wilde or 'Officer Foxy' as you seem so fond to call him, you can't have him anymore, he's mine and to answer the questions you asked a few days ago. You can find him at my side, where ever I am today, he will also be there. You should completely cover yourself up, he likes it when fur is on show and I wouldn't want him to look at anyone else except me. You can give him the gift of actually doing what mom said and going to your room so you can have a chat about your obsession. Lastly, well I don't know what you were going to say but he would appreciate you leaving the both of us alone"

With all that said, Judy made her exit but stopped when she remembered that there was one more task that she would have to do. Quickly and quietly heading into the room where all of the younger kit's toys were kept, Jud did a quick search and found what she was looking for. Going back to heading back outside, Judy stopped at the small cabinet that housed some awards and opened up one of the drawers. Quickly replacing the almost identical objects, Judy kept a hold of the one from the drawer while also closing the drawer that now held the fake object as she heading out.

Getting out of her house and walking down the road to the cruiser where Nick was waiting for her. While she did go off-script at the end when she had addressed Ellie she didn't regret anything she said. Ellie had been annoying her for too long and Judy wasn't able to get back at her until then. She was sure she had given everyone a shock but that just improved the chances of Stage Two becoming a reality.

Before she knew it, Judy was already climbing into the cruiser. She reached into the glove compartment and placed the object that she had just taken from her home before closing the glove compartment, making sure to return to the object at a later date.

Nick's attention was now on her and remained when she had closed the glove compartment. She caught the fox staring at the fur that was visible from her shorts and found it too hard not to let out a chuckle "So you do like it when fur is on show"

Nick snapped his head back up to meet her eyes as he started the cruiser and got it moving, already knowing where they were going now "Why did you ever have to think about that?" Nick had questioned with genuine curiosity

"I... may have gone off script a bit and said some things" Judy said as a blush started rising up her ears

"Let me guess, it was when you told your weird sister that has a crush on me that I'm now off the market"

Judy couldn't find it in herself to use her voice so instead, she had settled with a nod of her head.

Nick smiled at the sight of the embarrassed doe next to him and couldn't help but lean towards her and place a light kiss between her ears, the result making him smile even more as the blush became more and more red.

When Nick was settled back into his seat with his back straight he looked at bunny out of the corner of his eyes while he talked "Is Stage Two ready?"

Judy took a moment to answer but when she was ready, she raised her head and looked at Nick "If you mean that my father will do anything he can to actually kill you the next time he sees you then yes, Stage Two is ready"

"Let's hope we don't screw this up then" Nick said as he turned back to the road


	14. Feelings

**AN: **Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

 **Reviews:**

 **GhostWolf88:** I'm glad that I have the ability to leave you speechless, I'll try not to abuse it... too much

 **Camoss:** Admittedly, I may have over planned Nick's plan but I still feel like it makes sense. As for the fate of the Darren Case... We need to wait and see what Nick and his friends do when it comes to that topic.

 **Cimar Of** **Turalis WildeHopps:** I think we can all relate to Judy there, being in a heated moment and just saying what comes to mind, no matter how much you planned what to say.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 14: Feelings

The journey towards their destination was spent in a comfortable silence, for Nick at least. Judy was busy trying to wrap her head around what Nick had done before they had left her family's house. The kiss between her ears was causing her to think about her quickly growing relationship with Nick.

They had already discussed ahead of time that what Judy was going to say would cause a disturbance in her family and she would prefer to be away from it all. That is why they had both agreed that they should go somewhere to get breakfast, despite the fact that Judy already had some pancakes.

Nick slowed down the cruiser as his eyes spotted a small building that was advertising food to go. "What about here?" he asked as he drived a little ahead of the store and brought the cruiser to a stop.

Judy raised her head from looking down at her feet and looked at Nick with a confused look for a moment until she remembered where they were and what they were looking for. Slowly standing up on her seat and looked out the window that Nick had pointed out.

Without realizing, Judy had spent more time than what was necessary looking at the shop as Nick gently placed a paw on her shoulder to gain her attention as he spoke gently with concern clear in his voice "Judy" he said simply. Hearing her name Judy turned her head a bit too quickly to look at Nick as he continued to speak "Are you ok?"

Judy had remained silent for a few seconds before she responded which only caused Nick to become more concerned and curious "Yeah I'm fine, just...thinking about a few things..." she said quieter than she would have liked to.

Nick looked her in her eyes, trying to find the telltale signs of a lie that he had learned to look out for. Judy started to blush as Nick looked into her amethyst eyes and quickly lowered her head as he ears covered her face.

Nick took a moment to look at Judy before he slowly opened his door "Ok then fluff, If you say so, I'll go get us something to eat" and when that was said Nick jumped out of the vehicle and closed the door behind him, leaving Judy to herself.

After a short moment Judy leaned her head back against the door behind her and let out a long sigh. Closer her eyes Judy spoke aloud to herself "What is happening to my life?" she let the question hang in the air, as if she was expecting someone to answer her but she continued "In just a few short days, I've had my dreams crushed, listened to someone die, started to tru-"

Judy cut herself off as the driver side door opened and a familiar red fox started to climb back in muttering under his breath before his eyes met Judy's confused one. "Nice to see you again so soon fluff" he said as he closed the door behind him, making sure not to get his tail stuck in the door.

"What happened?" Judy asked, trying to put on an act that didn't show how she felt just a moment before

"Ohhh you know, Just your average stereotypical and prejudice bunny, nothing too special" Nick spoke casually as he sat down in his seat "Let's see if we can find anywhere else to eat" he went to start the cruiser but his paw stopped when it came to contact with the key when his ears twitched at the sound of the passenger door opening "What are you doing?"

Judy turned and looked at Nick as she lowed herself on her seat and got ready to jump "Nick, as far as I'm aware you haven't eaten since dinner yesterday, I don't know how different foxes are to bunnies but that is not healthy" she jumped down onto the floor and went to close the door but she saw Nick leaning over her seat with a look that that told her he was about to argue with what she had just said "Plus their blueberry muffins are really nice"

Before Nick could make any type of argument, Judy had already closed the door was halfway between the cruise and the store. On the outside the door was bland in colour, there wasn't much colour on the building except the brown of the bricks and whatever was visible through the windows. Even the door was the same colour as the bricks around it.

Stepping into the store the sound of an overhead bell rang through Judy's ears before a cheerful voice started speaking to her "Hello and welcome to Taylor's 24/7 breakfast bar slash dinner slash restaurant, open 24 hours and 7 days a week, how may I help you?"

As Judy walked up to the counter she took her time to observe the crowd of mammals eating there. All of them were bunnies with someone else. Whether it be a date or with their family, Judy was the only bunny who had walked in alone. She caught the look on a few of their faces and they showed fear _"Probably for Nick the poor thing"_ she thought before turning her head to the bunny at the counter

"Hi!" she had said cheerfully before looking at the selection of small food that she could take for Nick and herself to eat in the car. After a few short awkward seconds, Judy looked back at the light brown bunny that was on the other side of the small counter "Yeah can I have one blueberry and one carrot muffin to go please?"

As the bunny took his time to get what Judy had ordered from the display, Judy looked at his name tag so she could give him a proper thank you when she went to leave "Here you go, one blueberry and one carrot muffin to go" he said as he walked back to Judy with a small bag in one of his paws before he placed it on the counter and took the money that Judy had placed on the counter.

Judy went to reach for it but it was quickly grabbed by a black paw. The black bunny that was standing to the side of the bunny that had just given Judy her order. He opened the bag and pulled out the small box and opened it on the counter and looked at the two muffins.

"Excuse me but-" Judy started

"What's a pretty little bunny like you doing here all by yourself?" The bunny cut her off. Judy opened her mouth to talk but was once again cut off "The names Taylor, I'm the owner of this fine establishment"

Judy quickly closed the box and took it off the counter with a look of disgust before she answered "I'm not here by myself, my friend is just down the road and he gave me money so I could get something for us to eat"

Taylor gave her a judgemental look before looking at the brown bunny who had chosen to stay quiet "James, go on your break"

"But my break isn't until lunch" he responded with a bit of fear

"Are you complaining? take this break and have another later" With that said James had slowly walked towards the back and left Judy alone with Taylor "Whose your friend?" he asked as he leaned on the counter

"Who he is is none of your business" Judy snapped back

Taylor seemed to let out a little chuckle and put on a grin that made Judy even more annoyed about the situation she was in "I'm afraid it is apart of my business"

"Uhhh huh and how is it your business" Judy question with frustration clear in her voice

"One of two reasons" Taylor said casually before looking Judy up and down multiple time "One I want to know if we could meet again sometime, preferably after hours of course and...get to know each other" he said suggestively while look at Judy seductively

Judy returned the look with one of disgust and anger "Not even if you were the last mammal in the world"

"And reason number two" Taylor continued, ignoring Judy's comment "I had a fox just walk in here...and he asked for the same thing..." Taylor said as he started to lean over the counter Judy refused to move from the attempted sign of intimidation "The fox wouldn't so happen to be your friend would he?"

Knowing that if she said yes something drastic would happen and she would end up much like Nick, leaving empty-handed , Judy prepared herself to lie "No" she responded simply but when Taylor showed no signs of moving Judy decided to take her comment further "But I'm sure he would be a much better friend than you"

Taylor backed off and started to walk around the counter until he was standing face to face with Judy. He slowly reached for one of her paws and held it tightly as she tried to take it away. He slowly brought it up to his lips and left a light kiss between Judy's knuckles.

Judy quickly pulled her paw back and when she saw the crowd of bunnies watching her, she had come up with an idea. Quickly forcing a blush upon herself by thinking about a certain fox who she had left waiting, Judy put on a flattered look and pinned her ears against her back.

Taylor grinned when he saw the look on Judy's face and he slowly grabbed the same paw again "See, wasn't that bad was it?" he asked sweetly and Judy gave a slow and hesitant shake off her head which caused him to grin even wider "Much better than what any fox could do" he said as he raised the same paw so that it was between the two of them "Would you like me to do it again?"

Judy slowly nodded her head and she was thankful for his much more loose grip on her this time. She pulled her paw back and quickly hit Taylor on the lips before she shook her paw and wiped her paw against her shirt and turned to leave when she saw Nick leaning against the door with an impressed and annoyed look on his face.

This time Judy blushed for real as she slowly walked up to the fox. Nick just looked at the bunny that had just been rejected by Judy with disgust and anger before looking at Judy with a much lighter expression "Have bunnies ever heard of concent before?" he asked as he held the door open for Judy.

Judy didn't answer as she walked out of the store. They had stayed silent until they had entered the cruiser again. Nick was trying to control how he felt but after looking at him for a minute, Judy could tell something was affecting him "Nick, what's wrong?"

"Nothing Judy"

"Nick-"

"I'm fine Judy, really I am" he had cut off quickly and left Judy speechless for a moment.

She had more to say but decided to let Nick have a few minutes to himself to calm down. Once they had both finished eating Nick let out a long sigh "Judy, I'm sorry but please, trust me when I say I'm fine"

"Nick, I trust you fully but I can tell your not fine, something is bothering you" Judy said gently as she turned and looked at Nick.

Nick also turned so that they were now looking at each other and he let his paws fall onto his lap and rest on his knees. "How?" he asked simple but Judy knew what he meant

"You're calling me by my name and not some stupid nickname" she said before gently grabbing one of his paws and resting one of hers on top and the other underneath "Nick, please tell me what's bothering you"

"It's...It's nothing Judy, nothing to get worried about"

"Is it what happened in there?" Judy asked and she could feel Nick tense. She knew that she had Nick where she wanted him and she could now dive further "Is it because of Taylor?" she asked in a gentle voice as if she were talking a kit to sleep.

Nick hesitated a moment before he slowly nodded his head and closed his eyes "I didn't like what he was doing" he said simply before opening his eyes and looking into Judy's amethyst pools. He found himself calming down quickly as he looked into her eyes.

Judy let Nick have his moment to calm down before she started talking again "I don't like it either, but I'm used to it" she said which caused Nick to look at her weirdly "Nick, every day some buck tries his luck with me, some stop when I just say no, others... don't listen as much and try to push their luck"

"That...that's why...that's why I like you Nick" she said and got the attention of Nick even more as he lowered his head so that she didn't have to look up at him. Their noses were only centimeters away. Judy could feel Nick's warm breath on her face.

Nick looked at her, expecting her to explain what she had said. When she stayed quiet he opened his mouth to talk but he saw Judy open hers so he quickly shut his and listened to her. "When we first met, you didn't give me any backhanded compliments, you wanted me to feel comfortable. When we talked you didn't stare at my body, you kept eye contact with me and stayed professional, you didn't try to get in my bed after the first day..." she paused for a second and looked at Nick with a small smile "But I did watch you climb into my room through the window"

When Nick let out a small chuckle Judy couldn't help but smile a little but when his chuckle died down, so did Judy's smile. She lowered her head and spoke again, unknowingly cutting Nick off before he could say a single word. "I would have said this earlier but... I was scared of how you would react"

Judy let go of Nick's paw and held her knees up her chest before wrapping her arms around them. "What's wrong?" Nick asked as he looked at Judy's new sitting position

Judy rubbed her paws over her legs, trying to get some warmth into them as the temperature drop started to become more obvious "Just a little cold"

Nick chuckled lightly again before he reached over and picked Judy up, bringing a squeak of protest out of her. But before she knew it, Judy was now sitting in Nick's lap as he held her tight and rested his head between her ears "Dumb bunny, did you not check the weather forecast?"

"No" Judy said quietly as she remembered that she had just put her shorts on because of the temperature when she woke up and didn't bother looking at the weather app on her phone.

"Well then, you're not going to like this piece of news" Nick said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the weather app so Judy could see it for herself. The app showed that it would be an bring a sunny and warm start to the day before it would get colder and start to rain.

Judy groaned and hit her head against Nick's chest as she closed her eyes and reflected on how dumb she had been for not checking the weather app on her own phone. Nick pocketed his phone and went back to being serious as he looked to finish the conversation they were having "Judy, I'm sorry for the way I acted, It's just...when you see someone you care about being harassed by other dumb mammals, it ticks you off. It doesn't matter how many times it happens, you still feel the same way. I may have seen it with that hare a few nights ago but that doesn't change how I feel when it happens"

Judy opened her eyes and found herself looking into Nick's own emerald eyes as he looked down at her "Nick, that's really sweet" she said as she closed her eyes and listened to the silence between them until Nick spoke.

"Fluff, what was actually bothering you earlier?" he questioned with a serious look on his face.

Judy opened her eyes and started to play with her paws as she lowered her head "I guess I was just thinking about...us"

"What about us?" Nick asked without the usual tease or sarcasm in his voice

"Just us overall, a fox and a bunny, that's never been heard of before in BunnyBurrow and I would think that Zootopia would be the same and not to mention I can't help but feel like this is all moving a bit...fast"

She said before reaching up her paws up and placing them on either side of his muzzle "Nick..." she said before closing her eyes again and taking a deep breath. She hoped this wasn't a dream and was thankful that when she opened her eyes again Nick was still looking down at her and her paws were still on either side of his muzzle "Nick, I know the last time I said this, I tried to take it back and make up some excuse but now...now that I know that you won't humiliate me, I want to be the first to say it face to face. I want you to know how serious I am when I say these world"

Nick remained silent as he nodded his head, Judy's paws never losing contact with his muzzle that had a small smile that seemed to grow with each word she said.

"Nick, I love you, I'm not sorry for it and I'm definitely not half tired and I want us both to be comfortable in this relationship so please, tell me if I'm moving too fast for you" Judy spoke but stopped for a moment as she ran her paws along Nick's muzzle and lowered her head so she was looking across the seats.

Nick placed a paw under her chin and slowly lifting it up so that for the second time in a short amount of time, their noses were mere centimeters away. Nick just smiled as he looked down at Judy and after a short while he opened his mouth to respond "Judy, I love you too and I'm still not teasing and I don't care how fast or slow you want thing to go between us, as long as your comfortable and happy"

He slowly lowered his muzzle closer to Judy's but stopped when Judy moved her paws so that they were on his nose and over his mouth. He spoke into her paw but she couldn't understand what he was saying and when he went quiet, she started to explain why she had stopped him "Nick, It's nothing bad but I think we should save it for when all this is behind us"

Nick understood where she was coming from and he raised his head back to where it was before and nodded his head. Judy removed her paws from his nose and mouth, letting him speak freely which she had quickly regretted. "Talk about ruining the mood Carrots" he teased but quickly started talking again "But in all seriousness I agree, we don't want to talk about not wanting to take things too fast and then do something stupid"

Judy shook her head at the fox and decided some small payback was in play. "Hey Nick?" she said casually which got the foxes attention. When she was sure he was focusing on her alone, Judy placed her paws back on his muzzle and quickly pulled it down so that she could place a kiss on his nose. Before he could get any ideas, she quickly pushed his muzzle back up.

"What was that for?" he asked dumbfoundedly

Judy just smiled at him "That's for kissing my head earlier"


	15. Stage Two

**AN: **Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

 **Reviews:**

 **GhostWolf88:** Where there is drama, Fluff must follow after to soften the blow

 **Cimar Of Turalis WildeHopps:** Them bunnies need to learn to ignore their instincts to "multiple" with every female they see. From the number of times Judy has already had to resort to violence, they most likely would leave with all of the male bunnies in their cruiser.

 **Makahala XIII:** It's nice to see Judy finally being able to shock her family rival (along with just about everyone else in the family)  
The life of a poor single doe like Judy (probably a bad example given the circumstances). Being hit on left, right and centre by bucks  
You are correct, Stage Two is upon us.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 15: Stage Two

It was now much later in the day. Not late enough for the sun to be down and the moon up, but at the time where both were visible in the sky. Throughout the day, the bunny and fox had actually spent their time productively. They had gone over police procedures, codes that would be used while on the beat and basic training. Everything that Judy had told her family.

Naturally, Judy was able to breeze through all of it. She silently thanked all the time she had spent running around her farm. On top of that, she also thanked all the time she spent in her bedroom on her laptop, looking at anything police related that she could find.

She knew she was good, but she didn't expect to be able to outpace a fully trained cop. There were a few times where Nick would ask for a timeout while Judy still hadn't broken a sweat.

All the while Judy did it with a small smile on her face. Every second that she spent with Nick, the closer she felt to finally achieving her dream.

Nick also had a small smile on his face. Every time Judy had amazed him with her skill and knowledge, he realized just how much of a good cop she would be. He had also learned that Judy was not to be messed with. Nick liked to think that he was one of the best in his class in terms of physical training, after all, there isn't a lot of ways to cheat.

But despite his training, Judy was still able to outperform him.

But now, they were on the road again, to one of their last destinations in BunnyBurrow. The Hopps household. The thought of what they were about to do was scary to Nick. The plan was very fragile and could easily be foiled by one mistake. It could also turn disastrous if Judy had forgotten her second task. It wasn't that he didn't trust Judy, because he did, otherwise he wouldn't have involved her in his plan, he would have turned it into a solo mission.

"What's wrong?" Judy asked as she spared a glance at the fox. While he tried not to show it, it was evident that his mind was distracted.

It also didn't help the foxes case that the vehicle was more on one side of the road than the rest, another sign that his mind was distracted from the current task at hand.

"Nothings wrong Carrots," he said and tried to offer a smile, but it faltered for less than a second but Judy had picked up on it.

"Nick," she said with authority clear in her voice, making it clear to Nick that he wasn't fooling anyone.

Letting out a sigh, Nick recentred the vehicle on the dirt road. Nick opened his mouth to talk but he couldn't find the right words to use. He quickly closed his mouth before opening it again and again, found himself speechless. He opened and closed his mouth again, probably looking like an idiot to the bunny next to him, and forced words out of his mouth "I'm... I'm just worried"

Judy's face showed no signs of changing before she ever so slightly lowered her head and spoke in a quieter voice "Yeah...me too"

Nick's mood lightened a little, knowing that he wasn't the only one who was nervous "Nice to know I'm not the only one" Nick muttered to himself before sparing a side glance at Judy "are you sure you want to go through with this? I'm sure I can find a way out of it for you"

Judy looked at Nick with a small smile on her face. She liked how much he cared for her, despite all of their past experiences and how rough their first few meeting together was, he still cared. "No Nick, I agreed to do this, It's what's best for both of us, for our safety"

"As long as you're sure Fluff"

"I'm sure Slick," she said as the smile on her face grew a little from the use of the nickname she had given him but didn't find herself using. Especially when compared to how much Nick used a nickname for her. "Plus, I think it's a bit late to back out now, no matter what that brain of yours can think of"

* * *

When Nick had finally arrived near the Hopps house, he stopped the cruiser a little further down the road than were the cruiser was parked in the morning. He looked over to his quiet passenger and was surprised with the sight that met him.

Judy had her head leaned against the door. Her ears were over the front of her face but Nick could see that her eyes were closed. Her arms were wrapped around her seatbelt but it didn't look like a tight grip. Her body also seemed to be wanting to curl into a small ball of fluff.

Slowly and quietly undoing his seatbelt, Nick leaned towards Judy and gave her a gentle nudge "Carrots, Judy time to wake up"

Judy had only moaned a little under her breath but showed no other signs of hearing the fox.

"Judy, time to put on the performance of a lifetime," Nick said a little louder

"Five more minutes" Judy muttered half-mindedly before curling into herself even more

"You're not telling me that it is possible for you to be tired and fall asleep are you," Nick said as he shook Judy gently.

Suddenly, Judy's head and ears popped up back to being straight and she looked at Nick for a second as a blush slowly began to show through her fur "I didn't fall asleep" she said before she realized what her body position was. Quickly correcting it so that she was sitting as if nothing had happened.

Nick let out a small chuckle as he watched Judy try to battle her blush "Think you pushed yourself too hard today Carrots"

"I did not push myself too hard and I most certainly am not tired," She said in an annoyed voice. As if the world was out to prove her wrong and embarrass her even more, Judy started to yawn that she didn't even know was building.

Nick had again chuckled before he undid Judy's seatbelt for her and started the cruiser "You keep telling yourself that Carrots" he said and started to move the cruiser before he saw Judy start to move to put her seatbelt back on "Don't bother with that, your house is just up here and we need to get one more performance out of you before the end of the day, then you can go to sleep all you want"

* * *

Nick brought the cruiser to a stop just across the road from the front of the Hopps household, not bothering to hide it. He looked over to the other seat and caught Judy's eyes. No words were exchanged but a simple nod of each of their heads.

Nick opened his door and walked around the front of the vehicle before he reached the other side. Opening the passenger door for Judy, he held a paw out for her to take. They were aware that someone would have been kept watch if Judy had returned during the day, they both knew that they already had an audience to perform in front off.

Taking Nick's paw, Judy jumped out of the cruiser and turned to close it but when she was facing the door, Nick had already closed it and was offering her a warm smile. Judy couldn't help the blush that started to show through her fur and it only made Nick's smile grow even more.

Once again holding his paw out, Nick looked at Judy before sparing a side glance at the house. Sure enough, there was a small group of bunnies watching from multiple windows. None were on the ground floor, all were upstairs on multiple levels.

Nick turned his attention back to Judy when he felt her paw touch his. They started to move in a slow walk towards the door as Nick started to talk about their day, not wanting to look suspicious to anyone. Of course, he had chosen the topic that was discussed only minutes ago. "Carrots, you really pushed yourself too hard today"

Judy was annoyed at the topic he chose but chose to play along rather than air out her frustration. Putting on a slight limp in one of her hind paws as she spoke "I told you Nick, I'm fine, I have ran further before you know"

Noticing Judy's limp, Nick removed his paw from hers and chose to instead to place it on the arm that was furthest away from him and let her lean into him "But that doesn't stop me worrying about you, being a cop is a dangerous job"

Judy rolled her eyes as she lightly punched his Nick's arm. She let herself lean onto him for support and wrapped an arm around his waist "Nick, I'm not just your average weak token bunny, I even outran you today"

Nick smiled lightly as he looked down at Judy "I know, and that's why I love you"

The blush from earlier had started to die down, but with what was just said, it returned with full force. "Sly fox," she said quietly under her breath

They stopped just outside the front door and Nick dropped his voice his voice to a whisper "Can you hear anything?"

Judy stayed quiet for a moment as she focused on trying to pick up on any sounds coming from the house "No can't hear anything" she replied back in a whisper at a similar level of volume to Nick.

"Well then Carrots, are you going to invite me in or is this where our night ends?" Nick asked as he returned to his normal volume, trying to get someone to come to the door.

Judy quickly caught on to what he was thinking, if no one was going to meet them at the door, then they would have to meet them inside the house "Nice move slick but..." Judy cut herself off for a moment as her ears jumped up as she heard pawsteps coming from inside heading towards the door. "Yeah sure, let me just find my key then you can come in"

Nick watched as Judy's ears jumped up and he knew what she heard. Making a quick decision, Nick got down on his knees and had his back facing the door. He caught Judy's gaze for a second before he pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her back.

Once Judy caught onto what Nick was doing, she relaxed and wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her head on his shoulder before closing her eyes. She missed the sound of the door opening and only realized when the sound of a gasp was made.

Lifting her head up, Judy saw that her father, mother and a few of her siblings were at the door. There was Ellie, which Judy was thankful for once since the look on her face screamed envy, Jack who had a look of surprise on his face. Then Judy saw the one buck that could make this situation worse, Jake who looked like he had seen the most disgusting act of nature. Given his profession, it wouldn't be surprising if that is what he thought.

"Hey Mom, dad, Ellie, Jack, and Jake," she said in an overly happy tone. Nick started to rise up to his feet, always keeping one hand around Judy's waist to support her 'limp' "This is Nick, most of you would have already seen him, except you Jake, we were just going to come in and go to my room"

"Who said he was allowed in?" Stu asked in a harsh tone that made Nick's ears fall on his head

"I did" Judy replied simply as she rested her head on Nick "We need to go pack my stuff for Zootopia"

"She's actually going to Zootopia?" Jake had asked. His voice high pitched, Judy wasn't sure if it was from him being scared of Nick, concerned for her or if it was just his natural voice. He was always high pitched but it seemed higher than she remembered.

"Yep, leaving bright and earlier at 2:30" Nick spoke up and all eyes fell on him, including Judy's "or at least that the plan if Carrots actually wakes up and something tells me that she will sleep longer than expected"

"Carrots!?" every bunny except Judy blurted out at once

Judy chose to ignore them as she rolled her eyes and looked up at Nick "I swear if you say I'm tired one more time you're going to wake up from a bucket of ice water"

Nick smiled at Judy "Wasn't saying it, just implying it Fluff"

"Fluff!?" Their audience said at the same time again

Nick tried his hardest not to smirk as this was probably one of the easiest audience he had to act in front of. Given how much he had to act for hustles, that wasn't an easy choice to make.

"Don't even think of implying it either then" Judy said as she turned her attention back to her family

Nick smile widened as he thought of a way to speed everything up "Don't worry Fluff, you look cute when your asleep, especially when you hug your seatbelt"

"Cute!?" Her family shouted. Judy didn't expect Nick to go that far with the act. All the times when she was called cute she felt anger rise in her and she always wanted to smack whoever said it. Especially when they were a different species or if they used in a mocking way. But when Nick said it, there was none of that anger, instead just a rapidly growing blush.

"That's it, I've had enough," Stu said angrily, bringing Judy back to reality and causing Nick to look away from Judy "Jake, right drawer," he said as he held a paw out in Jakes direction.

Jake disappeared momentarily, during which Nick and Judy shared a look, both hopeful that the plan was going well. Jake reappeared and placed a pink taser in his dads awaiting paw.

Stu started to move towards Nick as the fox began to talk frantically, realizing what situation he was in "Hey now, there's no need for violence or anything like this...we...we can just talk like gentlemammals"

Stu ignored Nick's words until he was right in front of the fox. Pulling the arm with the taser back before quickly hitting it against the foxes stomach, sending sparks of electric through the fox.

"Nick!" Judy cried out as she let go of the fox and watched what was happening as she started to let tears go down her face. She felt a paw being placed on her shoulder. Slowly she turns her head and catches eyes contact with Jack

"I'm sorry" he whispered before hugging her and turning her away from it.

Nick fell to the floor as the Stu pulled the taser away momentarily. When Nick was on the floor, he raised his head slowly but it dropped back down as another, thankfully shorter, round of electric hit him.

Stu pulled the taser and looked at the foxes body. It twitched every few seconds but he was not dead. Making contact with the taser and the foxes body again, he turned and faced the audience "Jake, get over here and help your old man"

Jake started to walk towards Nick and Stu with a smaller black taser that he often told his family about, especially how good it was. Judy's ears shot up and she quickly thought out of her brothers hug "Let go!" she shouted at him as he tried to hold her back. Not wanting to make Judy mad, Jack let go.

Judy quickly ran towards her father and Stu before pushing Stu away from Nick. Jake held out his empty paw and went to move Judy out of the way but she caught his wrist and pushed it away from her. She reached for his other paw and caught the black taser.

"Judy, what are you doing?" Jake asked but it fell on deaf ears

Judy quickly threw the taser onto the ground in front of her before picking it up and throwing it down again. She did it three or four more times until the taser looked more like a pile of plastic and screws than a deadly murder weapon.

Jake stared at her in disbelief "Do you know how much it costs to make that?" shouted at her while pointing at now destroyed taser.

"No, and I don't care how much it costs" Judy shouted back at him. "I will not have you harm my fox anymore than you already have". Everyone had gone still like a statue. She even surprised her self when she spoke. She didn't mean to say 'my fox' but it had slipped out.

Turning away from her family, she looked at the now motionless body of Nick "Ohhh Nick" she said as she repositioned herself and held his head in her paws, she stroked along his snout as she put her head against his chest. He looked so peaceful that someone could easily confuse him for simply being asleep.

She refused to show any signs of how she felt on her face as she reached her conclusion. Placing a small kiss on his now dry and cold nose, Judy stood up and gently laid Nick's head back onto the floor. She looked at her family, tears rolling down her face "I hope you're happy" she said before walking towards her father and taking the taser that was in his paw before walking towards her door.

Thankfully Bonnie and Ellie had already moved out of the way as Judy stormed into the house. Crushing the taser between a wall and her paw.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie called to Judy as she started heading up the stairs

"Zootopia" Judy shouted back before there was the slam of a door being closed was heard by every bunny.

Bonnie looked back to her husband and briefly looked at the fox "I'll go talk to her and you three" she said as she pointed at Stu, Jake and Jack "will take that" she gestured towards the foxes body "somewhere else"

"Why do I have to?" Jack asked as he say his brother and father start to roll the fox down the path that leads to the front door "I'm not the one who took any part in killing him"

"But you didn't try to stop them did you" Bonnie responded

"Neither did you!" Jack shouted back at her "I was trying to comfort Judy as she watched the mammal she cares about be killed right in front of her"

"Yes a mammal that isn't even a bunny, he was a fox, you know her relationship with foxes" Bonnie shouted back at him "You even threatened him the other day when he LIED to you about not knowing where Judy is"

"Maybe she was scared and didn't want us knowing where she is because you would act like this so she told him to lie!" Jack shouted back. Not once in his life did he ever think he would enter a shouting competition with his mother, especially about a fox.

Bonnie turned and started to follow where Judy went as she shouted back at Jack "Help your father!" The tone she used was one that clearly said 'this is no longer up to discussion'

Jack slowly walked to his father and brother and put little effort into helping them as the two talked about how disgusting foxes were and how they didn't see what Judy saw in Nick.

Ellie followed behind her mother but stopped when Bonnie suddenly turned around and faced her "Now is not the time Ellie, your still meant to be in your room"

With that Ellie walked ahead and laid down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling


	16. On The Road Again

**AN: **Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

 **Reviews:**

 **Combat Engineer:** Stu is a lucky buck we can say for sure but maybe...his luck has run out

 **GusTheBear:** When has a Nick and Judy plan never worked? I'm sure the incredible mind of Nick would have thought about something like this happening

 **GhostWolf88:** Well, It is Stu and a child of his that works at 'FoxAway' and they did just hear a fox call a bunny "Cute"

 **Toons Girl:** Poor Judy, having to deal with so much trouble  
Sadly, I don't think that Judy's family will ever stop tasing Nick.  
*Insert airhorn sounds as Ellie walks to her room*

 **Makahalla XIII:** Being subtle isn't one of Nicks strongest traits. Maybe he could take some lessons from Judy.  
He's the awkward part, Jake is actually one of Judy's littermates, I had touched upon him briefly during Chapter 10. I am also going to go into detail as to why he was at the Hopps' when he wasn't there I the morning.  
While Nick may not be good at subtlety, he certainly is good at annoying bunnies. He really knows what buttons to push and always ends up on the other end of a taser.  
I think Stu should join Gideon in his anger management classes and should definitely calm down on the taser

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 16: On The Road Again

"I don't get what she sees in him," Stu said in between heavy breaths as he stopped pushing the body of Nick momentarily and leaned with his back against the fox.

Jack had put in little effort to help his father and brother move the fox. They were now stood at the end of the pathway that leads towards the front door. "Of course you wouldn't" he muttered quietly to himself

"What was that Jack?" Stu asked as he looked towards, having to look up a little to make eye contact

"hmmm?" Jack hummed in response before continuing "I didn't say anything"

The three bucks were silent for a moment before Jake asked the question that had been bugging him for a while "So dad, you said that you had a fox problem over the phone, but that doesn't explain why this...fox" he spat the word as if it were venomous "was standing outside your door, hugging my sister, claiming he's going to take her to Zootopia, proceeding to insult her by name calling, god knows what else he's done to poor Judy when we weren't around, and then calling her cute"

Stu winced as Jake recalled the scene that they had just walked onto. He couldn't believe what he was seeing when he opened his door and saw his daughter hugging a fox. Initially, his heart had dropped, from behind it looked as if the fox was down on one knee. He was thankful to see that the fox was on both of his knees, but he still didn't appreciate the sight.

Not to mention that this was the exact same fox that he had to chase away a couple nights ago. How Judy was able to forgive the fox in such a short time, Stu will never know.

"Well, just before I called you, Judy came down for breakfast like normal, first time we have seen her in days. Your mother picks up the scent of a fox on her and when you found it, the smell never went, trust me when I say that. But anyways, your older sister Ellie said that she was with 'Officer Foxy'" Stu said as he nodded his head towards the head of the still in uniform fox.

"Hold on" Jake interrupted as he held his paws out in front of him "You're telling me, that this fox, is actually a cop?" he asked and got a nod back from his father "and he isn't going to some type of dress-up party with his other law-breaking friends?"

"No, he is just as much a cop as Judy wishes she could be" Jack spoke up, still not bother to look at either of his family members that sat near him.

Jake gestured to his father to continue with his explanation. "Ellie says that Judy was with the fox and all was silent for a moment. That was until Judy pulled out that carrot recording pen..."

"The same one from when she was nine?" Jake interrupted again

Stu nodded his head and smiled at Jake "Yep, the same one, you remember the day she got it?" he asked rhetorically "She was so happy when she got to use it, I'm pretty sure it's got no more ink left and she just uses it as a recording device"

"Wouldn't surprise me" Jake spoke "She's always been a sentimental mammal"

Jack took advantage of their conversation and was able to slip away. It wasn't until they had continued talking for another ten minutes until they noticed his disappearance.

"Wheres Jack gone?" Jake asked as they rolled Nick towards the back of his cruiser.

Stu stopped and looked around, not spotting any sight of Jack anywhere "didn't even notice he went, probably was called inside by someone, could you go find where he is for me?" Stu asked as he jumped up and unlocked the trunk of the cruiser when he had gotten the keys from one of the foxes pockets.

"Sure thing Dad"

* * *

Today was a good day for Matt. His boss, Gideon was no longer mad about having to serve to a prey mammal. He had complained all about Judy ever since the fox and bunny walked into his store.

But now was one of the rare occasions, he was let off work earlier.

He didn't put up any arguments and quickly left, not giving Gideon an opportunity to change his mind. He still had a few hours of his shift left and he wasn't expected to return home for another few hours.

That's why he had taken the long route towards his home.

While he had lived in BunnyBurrow for as long as he could remember, he still enjoyed walking across fields of growing crops. He didn't walk through the crops, his mother and father had raised him to show respect towards others and to not damage others property.

He walked down the dirt road, phone in one of his pockets and with an earphone in each ear. He kept his music at a low volume, making sure he could hear if any vehicles were heading towards him.

He came to a stop however when he saw a familiar vehicle. It was a police cruiser.

Not just any normal police cruiser, but a ZPD cruiser. He immediately thought back to the red fox that said he was in BunnyBurrow for police business and wondered if he would be able to see the fox and have a small chat with him.

He did see the fox. But not in the way he would have liked to.

His eyes widened significantly as he watched from a distance as the red foxes stiff and motionless body was being pushed into the trunk of his cruiser. There was an old rabbit buck seemed to be who struggling to lift the foxes body.

Matt was still. He didn't know what to do. Whether he should try and intervene and help the officer as much as he could or if he should call the cops.

Making a quick decision, Matt pulled out his phone and started to record what he could see from his angle. It wasn't much but it clearly showed the buck lifting the fox into the trunk. He waited for a minute and continued to let his phone record.

After some effort, the bunny was able to get the fox into the trunk and closed it before walking off.

Matt followed the bunny with his camera, making sure to get the house he was heading to so the police knew where to go when he called them.

He started walking in the same direction that he came from as he started to dial the police.

* * *

"Judy what do you think you're doing" Bonnie asked in a light voice as she watched her emotionally destroyed kit pace back and forth in her room. Grabbing items at random before placing them on her bed.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Judy asked, her voice shaking with her tears "I'm heading to Zootopia" she said as she started to pull a suitcase out from her closet and placed it on her bed, next to the piles of items she was planning to take.

Bonnie slowly stepped into the room and sat at the foot of Judy's bed. She watched as Judy began to pack some of her clothes in her suitcase. Gently patting the spot next to her, Bonnie spoke in a gentle and quiet voice "Come sit down dear"

"No" was Judy's simple response as she continued to put clothes in her bag

"Judy please, your tired and not thinking straight, you need to-"

"Not thinking straight!?" Judy asked in a raised voice "Your one to talk" Judy spoke in the same raised voice and pointed at her mother "It's you, dad and everyone else not thinking straight" she then turned her paw and pointed at herself "I'm thinking perfectly logical here"

Bonnie suddenly stood up and grabbed hold of Judy's carrot pen, knowing she wouldn't go anywhere without it "Judith Laverne Hopps!" Her mother shouted back.

Judy didn't respond back. She just continued to pack her suitcase. When it was full, she turned to her mother and held her paw out "Give me the pen mom" she said in a voice that said she wasn't messing about, her mother didn't get the message and continued.

"Not until you put everything back where it was"

"So what, you going to try and stop me from finally being able to achieve my dream job, right after I just watched my father and brother kill someone I had feelings for. Nick believed in me and was able to get me the meeting with the chief so I'm going to it and I'm going to become a cop, whether you like it or not" Judy spoke as she dropped her suitcase onto the floor behind her.

The room was almost empty, save only for the bed, desk, chairs and a few other items that Judy wouldn't be able to take. She had even packed her laptop at the bottom of her suitcase.

Bonnie didn't even take a second to try and organize what she was saying "'Had feelings for' is a strong phrase, Judith-"

"But a true one" Judy interrupted. She knew her mother was annoyed just by how she was being addressed. There was no more 'Judy' or 'Dear'. Instead, it was 'Judith' a name she was only called by when her mother was extremely angry or annoyed.

"How can you have feelings for a fox? you're a bunny, he's predator, you're prey, natural enemies"

"I couldn't care less if he was a fox, a weasel or even a tiger, I liked him because who he was, not what he was. We are evolved mother, we no longer have 'natural enemies', instead we have enemies that we make for good reasons and species is not a good reason"

"Judith, I will not have you go running off, paw in paw with some fox-"

"Well you don't have to worry about that thanks to dad and Jake"

Bonnie remained quiet for a second and it was a second too long as Judy continued "How would you feel if you watched one of your parents kill dad right in front of you?"

Again, Bonnie remained silent. Too shocked by what was said.

Judy took this moment and pulled the carrot pen from her mother's paw and walked past her, suitcase in tow behind her.

She walked down the hall. Thankful that her mother hadn't tried to follow her. She was about to go down the stairs when she heard her name be called from someone she really didn't want to talk to at the moment.

"Judy?" came Ellie's voice from her room. Her door left open a bit.

"What?" Judy responded curtly. She knew Ellie would have been listening in on her conversation turned shouting competition with her mother.

"Could you come here for a minute please?"

Judy let out a groan and muttered under her breath as she walked to her sister's bedroom door "What do you want Ellie?"

Ellie stayed quiet for a moment, her head lowered and ears flat against her back. Judy was about to walk away but stopped when she heard Ellie's voice "I'm sorry" she said quietly

"What did you say?" Judy asked with real curiosity, she had never expected to hear those words come from Ellie.

Ellie let out a loud and long breath before speaking louder "I said I'm sorry"

The shock at what she as hearing was enough for the anger in Judy to simmer down and her voice was much calmer "th-thank you Ellie"

Judy stepped into Ellie's room and walked up to her. She had the intents to give her sister a hug and apologize but when she opened her mouth Ellie had cut her off

"How was he?" she asked simply while looking up into Judy's own eyes

Judy as now confused and stopped at the foot of the bed "What are you going on about?"

"You know, Foxy"

"His name is Nick," Judy said, anger starting to rise again from being left in the dark "What about him?"

"How was he?" Ellie asked, almost jumping up and down on her bed with excitement

"What are you even going on about?" Judy asked, voice still raising the more she spoke

"You know, how was he in the bed? was it wild? I bet it was wild, it would play up to his name after all, ohhh how big was h-" Ellie spoke calmly as if it was any normal topic.

At least until Judy cut her off. Voice at full volume yet again "Ohhh my god Ellie, could you just stop being a stereotypical bunny for ONE second? I just watched him die and you immediately ask me how he was during sex, I may be a bunny but I'm not that easy and he agreed to go slow so that I could feel comfortable"

Judy quickly left her sister's room and quickly headed down the stairs.

She hadn't been listening but the more she went down the stairs, the more it became clear. She wasn't the only one who was in an argument at the moment.

The further down she walked, the more the voices came clear. She could her father's voice, along with Jack and Jake's.

"She isn't going!" her father shouted

"And why not?" Jack responded, his voice raised but still more calm than her fathers

"Because it's dangerous" Jake shouted, clearly on his father's side.

"Judy can defend herself" Jack responded

"You saw how she stopped us from saving her from that fox" Stu responded quickly

"That's because it was Nick, you don't understand how she felt towards him" came Jack's even quicker response

"Ohhh yeah, the fox that she claimed to have feelings for, you know that's her first love and the first is always the worst" Jake responded through gritted teeth

Judy decided that she had heard enough and decided to interject "I would prefer if you didn't talk so badly about either me or NICK" she said, expressing the foxes name longer than what was necessary "Now I have places to be" she said and went to walk but turned around to Jack "Can I talk to you quickly Jack?"

"Sure thing Judy" he responded and followed her towards the front door but both were forced to stop as Jake and Stu blocked the doorway

"Your not going anywhere Judy," her father said trying to appear to have the authority in his favor

Judy just looked at her father and brother as they blocked the door with a frustrated look on her face. "I told you all, I'm going to Zootopia so I can become a cop, the results stay the same no matter what you say or do"

Judy then pushed her way between the two bunnies, Jack following behind her quietly "Judy, If you go to Zootopia I'll...I'll..."

"What will you do dad? use a fox taser on me? If you do at least have the decency to bury me around people who actually supported my dreams in life"

Before Stu could respond, Judy had already walked off towards the cruiser, grabbing two wooden planks that she could use to reach the pedals. Then she threw her suitcase in the passenger seat and quickly sent up the wooden planks with the assistance of Jack.

When they were finished, Judy stood in front of her brother and opened her mouth to talk. Only she stumbled on her words so instead chose to wrap her arms around him in a hug which he had returned "Thank you Jack" she whispered to him. She didn't know why she was so quiet all of a sudden.

"Don't worry Judy, I believe in you" he said just as quietly as her

"Really?" Judy asked in shock. She knew that Jack was one of the more open-minded Hopps' that had supported her early on in her life. But as the older she became and further away her dreams got, she always thought that the support started to disappear as well.

"Really" Jack confirmed in a calm voice before pulling away and looking Judy straight into her amethyst eyes "I may not have been on board with you and Nick originally and...admittiadly I was still cautious about him, but when I saw how happy you were with him and how you were affected by what Dad and Jake did, I know those feelings were real and I'm sorry I threatened him the other day, I'm also sorry that you had to go through what just happened, It's not something anyone should have to go through"

Judy lunged forward again and hugged her brother even tighter than she had before "Thank you so much Jack, don't worry about the threat, he said he can understand why you were doing it and I'm sorry that he lied to you, I told him to do so out of fear of mum and dad's reaction to my disappearance, thank you for being honest with me as well and being there for me when I needed it" Judy had a thought come to mind and spared a look towards her kithood home, the front door was now closed and there was no sight of anyone trying to listen to their conversation "Can you keep a secret?" she asked as she turned back and faced her brother.

When he nodded his head Judy took a deep breath, she hoped that if Nick heard he wouldn't be angry with her "Don't tell anyone but Nick is fine"

The look on his face was priceless. He looked as if he had just been told every mammal's darkest secret all at once. He looked at her and slowly smiled "You always was an actor at heart with a flair for the dramatics weren't you"

"Actually, this was all his idea, He deserves all the credit," Judy said as she spared a glance towards where Nick was in the trunk of the cruiser.

"Don't worry Judy, I won't tell anyone, your secret is safe with me" he said before giving her one last hug before Judy climbed into the cruiser and drove off.

* * *

Judy had been driving for a good amount of time now. It had been at least an hour since she left the Hopps compound. There were no more houses in sight as they were on one of the less used roads on BunnyBurrow as it headed towards the big city: Zootopia.

Judy brought the cruiser to a stop at the side of the road and checked her pockets for her phone. Only to have a small heart attack as she couldn't feel it in.

After a short while of panicking that she left her phone behind, Judy finally remembered that she had put it in her suitcase.

Her plan was to text Nick that it was safe to come out now and that she was going to unlock the trunk for him. But she didn't want to have to go through the hassle of trying to find her phone.

Climbing out the cruiser, Judy quickly walked towards the back and checked behind her if there were any vehicles coming. When she was sure there was none coming, she finally unlocked the trunk.

There was Nick, lounged against the side of the trunk with his phone in paw. When he noticed Judy, a smile started to crack on his face "It's about time, I've only texted you about 50 times asking if it was safe to come out" he said before getting tackled by Judy as she wrapped him in a tight hug

A few tears started to roll out of her eyes as she punched him in the arm

"Hey! what was that for?"

"You had me worried Nick," Judy said as she looked up at Nick, emerald meeting violet "I was worried that they had replaced the toy taser I put there before I met you and I was only sure you were fine when I checked your heart beat"

"Good to know that my acting skills are still good," Nick said with a smile across his face "But's I still find it weird that they sell them things to kits"

They remained silent for a while, just content to hug each other in the back of the cruiser.

That was until Nick spoke up "Can we please get out of here so I can actually sit up straight?"

Judy quickly jumped off Nick and let him climb out at his own pace as she got back in the driver's seat. Soon, Nick had joined her up front and had moved her suitcase to the empty space that his hind paws dangled above.

Judy got the cruiser moving again and after a short minute of silence, she leaned over and punched Nick on the arm again, much harder than she had last time

"Ow! What was that for, because if it's for being too good at acting you hit me for that earlier"

"No, that was for calling me cute earlier" Judy responded, a blush starting to grow from the memory.

"Well, it got us out of there quicker than if I didn't say it" Nick had responded.

* * *

The rest of that car ride had been spent with small conversation between the two. Mostly Judy asking questions about Zootopia and Nick providing her the answers.

It wasn't until they saw a sign that read _"Zootopia 200 Miles"_ That the cruiser was finally brought to a stop again.

There was a small dirt road just off the main road behind the sign that was covered well with the surrounding trees. They traveled down this road for a few minutes until Nick spotted out a smaller black four doored vehicle.

Judy was thankful that Nick had natural night vision as she couldn't see further than the vehicle's lights.

When she was finally able to see the other car, she parked the cruiser out of the way so that they could still drive past in the new vehicle.

Both fox and rabbit exited the vehicle at the same time. Nick taking Judy's suitcase with him as they went into the much smaller and more comfortable fox-sized vehicle.

Before Judy climbed in the new car she stared further down the road, what Finnick said over the phone repeated over and over again in her head _"I'll get you a car and put it near where we dumped the body"._ It brought a weird feeling to her, one that made her feel sick but also a little thankful, as bad as it sounded. She was thankful because otherwise, she wouldn't have met Nick and wouldn't be on her way to becoming a cop.

Nick noticed Judy staring down the path and knew what she was thinking. In truth, he didn't want to spend any more time than he had to on that dirt road. It reminded him of what he had to do for his own safety. That in turn also reminded him that he was meant to kill Judy all this time. They were not the thoughts he wanted to be having right now

He slowly approached behind Judy and hugged her from behind. Not too tight that it hurt her but tight enough that they were close together Judy relaxed into his touch, which he was thankful for. He slowly leaned down and placed a gentle kiss between her ears, causing her to turn around and look up at him.

"What was that for?" she asked as a blush was slightly visible through her fur.

"Kissing my nose earlier" Nick responded. The duo stayed silent for some time, staring into each others eyes, finding the comfort they both searched for. "Let's get going," Nick said lightly as he slowly brought his arms from around Judy.

When they got in the new car, Nick took the position of driver and they remained in silence until they were back on the road towards Zootopia

"Hey Nick?" Judy said in a quiet voice

"Yeah Carrots?" he replied in a quiet voice, still louder than Judy's but not louder than his regular speaking voice

"You wouldn't mind if I caught up on some sleep would you?" she questioned as she stretched a little in her seat.

Nick just smiled at Judy before answering "Go ahead fluff, I'll try not to wake you up"

Judy smiled in thanks and in little to no time, she was out like a light. Legs wanting to curl into herself but where restricted by her seatbelt which was caught in a strong grip just below where her head rested.

Nick smiled at the sight. What he said earlier was very true. She did look very cute and peaceful when she was asleep. He wouldn't tell her that again however, especially using that specific word


	17. Home Stretch

**AN: **Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

 **Reviews:**

 **GhostWolf88:** I am now making it my catchphrase "Where there is drama, there must be fluff to soften the blow" Next few chapters I plan to be slower paced and have less drama, especially since the last two chapters were very drama heavy.

 **Makahala XIII:** I too wonder if Matt is going to do anything about what he stumbled upon.  
Damn Ellie, needs to get her mind out of the bedroom and realize how Judy must have felt in that moment.  
At least we who to blame know if Stu goes to Zootopia and tases Nick again. But I feel like Judy needed someone to support her during that time.  
Out of the burrows and into the big city we go!

 **Cimar Of Turalis WildeHopps:** Things could be looking a lot worse for Stu if everything you mentioned happens. Would be looking at a lot of time if someone mentioned all the other times he harmed Nick.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 17: The Home Stretch

The journey was quiet. Partly because Nick preferred to travel in silence and partly because Nick didn't want to wake Judy.

The fox avoided the radio and chose to think over his thoughts. He questioned himself on what had happened in the past few days. In just a few days, Nick had his first day as a cop, killed an innocent mammal, started an investigation about said mammals death, befriended a bunny, got tased by the bunnies dad, grew attached to the bunny, had an argument with said bunny, went to turn himself in only to go on a date with the same bunny he argued with and to top it all of, he faked being killed by the very same bunnies dad.

"This has already been one crazy week" Nick spoke a bit louder than was necessary as Judy started to shift in her seat at the noise.

Nick looked over to Judy as she stopped moving in her seat. At some point, she had changed her position and now she was looking in his direction. Much like before her ears were draped over her face. She looked peaceful and ick would never forgive himself if he woke her up there and then.

There was one question he had to ask her when she woke up. That was why she told her brother. Even without the massive ears on top of his head, Nick still heard Judy tell Jack about him being ok.

He wasn't mad, just a little annoyed. They had agreed that they wouldn't tell anyone, no matter how much they wanted to.

Nick realized that he was starting to grip the steering wheel a little tighter. He leaned his head back, closed his eyes and let out a loud breath of air "What's done is done" he said out loud. Again Judy moved in her seat but showed no signs of waking up.

Nick looked at Judy through the corner of his eye and found himself calming down quickly just from looking at her in peaceful sleep.

The fox and bunny were so close to being safe, all they needed to do was get meet with Finnick and Carl then they would be free. Free from the threat of Mr. Big, free from their past. Judy would be able to finally achieve her dream.

Nick would be lying if he said that he had a full understanding about Judy. Sure he knew a lot about her through general observation and what she had told him, but there were a few things Nick didn't understand about the bunny. One of these was why she had been so friendly and close to him.

It didn't take a genius to understand that Judy had a bad past with foxes. But after a few hours of their initial meeting, she acted as if he wasn't a fox as if he were a lifelong friend that she had just reunited with. Then when she had sent the text saying that she loved him. Nick wanted to know why and how she was able to put her past experience behind her and acted as a friend to Nick.

They way how Judy had interacted with him was new to Nick. The only mammals to treat Nick like a friend were Finnick and his mother. It was a weird feeling for Nick, but not an unwelcome one.

Suddenly the car started to jump a little as one side of the vehicle went onto the dirt that ran along the road. Nick quickly pulled the vehicle back onto the road and swerved into the wrong lane before correcting the car. Nick hadn't realized but he had stopped looking at the road and was instead looking at the sleeping bunny.

* * *

Judy slowly opened her eyes and stretched in her seat. She didn't know how long she had slept for but she did know she slept longer than she usually did. What had woken her was the rays of what must have been close to midday sunlight hitting her face.

She looked at where Nick should have been, but there was no Nick.

That was when Judy realized the vehicle wasn't moving. She looked out the window and realized that Nick was standing at the back of a small line of mammals waiting for some food to come from a zebra. He was no longer in his police uniform but instead was back in the same clothing he had on during their date.

Judy stood up in her seat and looked herself over in the rear-view mirror. She was thankful that she looked presentable as she didn't want to go rummaging through her bag for her brush.

Slowly stepping out the vehicle and closing the door behind her, Judy walked up to join Nick and opened her mouth to talk to him only to be cut off by the fox.

"Someones awake," he said without looking down at her.

Judy's ears fell down as she thought of what it would have been like for Nick to travel for a long period of time while she was asleep.

She opened her mouth to apologize but Nick beat her once again. "Don't worry Carrots," he said with a smile as he looked down at her "You needed the sleep and I didn't fall asleep on the wheel, we're both fine"

"Are you sure?" she asked as she looked up at him with an apologetic look "I can drive the rest of the way until we get to where ever we are going" she offered before putting a paw in one of Nick's pants pockets and searching for the car keys.

Nick chuckled a little before placing his paw on Judy's arm and removing her paw from his pocket "First off Carrots, keys are not in that pocket" he moved his other paw into his shirt pocket and pulled out the car keys "Never put them in easily accessible pockets, don't know what mammals will try and steal from you" He then crouched down and whispered into Judy's ear "Speaking of which, everyone is looking at you because they think your stealing from me" he pulled back with a smirk on his face.

Judy looked at the small amount of mammals around them and they were all looking at here. The bunny blushed heavily and turned around "I'll be in the car, avoid the embarrassment" she muttered, not sure if Nick had even heard her.

Judy was pulled back and turned around when she felt Nick pull on her arm, bring her back towards him. "There's no need to go back Fluff," he said carefully, knowing that one wrong move meant that she would be back in the car in less than a minute.

All eyes were now looking at both the fox and bunny duo. Judy stepped behind Nick and used his tail to hide herself. Nick just chuckled even more as he kept a paw on Judy.

* * *

Judy kept her head down and covered her face with her ears. The thought of the mammals surrounding her thinking she was a criminal wasn't a pleasant thought. When they had reached the front of the line, the zebra gave a disgusted look before turning to Nick with the same disgusted look.

If asked, Judy wasn't going to ask for any food or drink. But Nick had never asked her.

He looked at the zebra with a calm and neutral expression with an arm resting on the small counter "Hello my good sir, how are you today?"

In response, the zebras stare only increased in disgusted, now staring directly at the fox.

After a few moments of silence with no response, Nick continued with the one-sided conversation "Good, good, I'm not bad myself, Could we have two bottles of water please?"

The zebra slowly turned around towards the small fridge that was set up in the corner behind him. When he turned around again, he slammed the two water bottles onto the counter next to Nick's arm.

"$4" The zebra spat out.

Judy's ears jumped up as the zebra demanded for their money.

The sticker advertising the water had priced it at $1. Arguably, you could say that it was already overpriced for just one bottle, but to double the price for next to no reason didn't sit well with the bunny.

"Hold on, why do we have to pay twice as much as what is advertised?"

"Think fast fluff" Nick interrupted and tossed one of the bottles of water high in the air and towards the doe.

Having distracted Judy with the bottle, Nick placed a $5 bill on the counter and started walking back towards the car.

Catching the bottle and realizing the fox walking back, Judy quickly walked up to him. She opened her mouth to talk but was silenced by Nick as they arrived at their car.

Opening the passenger door, Nick dramatically waved his paw towards the open door "I'm still driving" he said after looking down at the annoyed looking bunny.

Reluctantly, Judy jumped into the passenger seat and watched as Nick closed the door.

Nick was about to walk around the car to enter the driver seat but stopped when his ears twitched at the sound of the engine coming to life.

Looking into the car at the happy looking bunny behind the wheel, Nick reached a paw up to his shirt pocket, where his keys had originally been. When he found the pocket empty, he looked back at the bunny and a small smile spread across his face.

As the fox opened the passenger door again and climbed in, he looked at the bunny as she put the vehicle in motion "I'm a bad influence on you"

"But your helping me become a cop so I don't see the problem"

* * *

It wasn't long until the tall skyscrapers of Zootopia were visible.

They grey bunnies eyes looked directly at the building as it grew bigger and bigger the closer they got.

"Eyes on the road fluff," Nick said, bringing the doe back to reality.

"Sorry," she replied quietly but the excitement in her voice was still obvious.

Nick couldn't help but smile as he looked at Judy. She was so excited, like a kit in a candy store. Her eyes still looking towards the skyscrapers ever now and then until she would forcefull look back at the road.

When they had passed the sign that officially welcomed them to Zootopia, that is when it became a challenge to keep Judy's eyes on the road.

While the road was still surrounded by trees, it was clear that they were getting closer and closer to the city.

They reached a small stop when Judy came to an intersection with four possible turns open to turn into.

"What way?" she asked as she looked over to the fox who, unlike Judy, didn't fall asleep during the travel.

Looking down each turn for no more than five seconds, Nick looked back at Judy "Depends on where you want to go, Straight will take you to Savannah Centre, The furthest right turn will take you to Sahara Square, In between straight and right will take you to Downtown with all the big buildings"

Judy took in the foxes information and went to turn into the road that would lead them to Downtown but was stopped when Nick placed his paw over one of hers. Judy looked at Nick with a confused expression on her face, she went to ask what he was doing but stopped as Nick's muzzle opened.

"Sorry fluff, but we have to go left"

Reluctantly turning down the only road that was to her left, Judy looked at Nick once she had deemed the road straight enough to look away "Where does this lead to?"

"Rainforest District"

"Why are we going there"

"We need to get to the warehouse, then we both can catch some sleep" Nick replied, he knew that Judy wouldn't be up to the idea but he didn't exactly own an apartment to sleep in.

"Why are we sleeping in the warehouse?" Judy asked. There was no anger in her voice, only curiosity.

"Because it's not in the middle of the district where all the cameras are and speaking of which, we need to avoid all cameras possible, don't want to risk Mr. Big having access to cameras and spotting us"

Judy had a feeling that Nick wasn't telling her the whole truth. His voice was a bit off as he talked about cameras and she knew there was more to what he was telling her.

"Why else do we have to avoid cameras?"

Nick didn't answer. Instead, he turned his attention to the window. If Judy wasn't sure he was hiding information from her before, she would be confident now.

Judy reached out and placed a paw on the foxes arm, making sure that the fox turned around and looked at her "Why else Nick? Why else do we have to avoid the cameras?"

When Nick still didn't reply, Judy slammed on the brakes, bringing the vehicle to an abrupt stop in the middle of the road. The force of the break was enough to send the fox towards the dash but was saved by his seat belt just before he hit it.

Before Nick could recover, Judy had unclipped her seat belt and was now standing on Nick's legs and looking straight at him. Despite this, her face was neither angry or upset, instead, it was curious and pleading.

"Please Nick, tell me"

Violet eyes wide and looking at the brim of tears, Nick finally cracked "Fine, while you were asleep a ZPD cruiser had passed by with its sirens blaring and heading towards BunnyBurrow."

Judy was surprised at what Nick was telling her, it was rare for a ZPD cruiser to enter the burrows and when one did, it was usually for extreme matters."But why, ZPD only send officers out for extreme cases like murder and the only murder to happen in recent times is covered by you, no one else had been kill..." Then it hit her.

"No one else has died, but I played dead," Nick spoke in a voice that was both casual but also reassuring as he knew what Judy must have been thinking "I didn't call them, you didn't call them, someone at your home must have, so the ZPD are now looking for the body of a red fox that is an officer of theirs that is believed to be dead, a cruiser and a run away grey bunny who had taken the cruiser with said foxes 'dead' body" He made air quotations on the word dead as they both knew the fox in question wasn't dead. "The ZPD has full access to cameras so if they even see a bunny matching your description then you will be locked up and if they even see me, I'll... well I'm not really sure what will happen to me but it won't be good"

The vehicle was uncomfortably silent. Nick waiting for Judy to respond. Judy was thinking what the ZPD would do when they arrived at her home. If the information they were given was incorrect, then a lot of her siblings were going to prison. But if the information was correct, then only her father was going away. They thought caused tears to roll out of her eyes.

Unclipping his seat belt, Nick reached out and wrapped his arms around Judy and brought the bunny closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head into it and openly crying, dampening his neck fur.

They stayed there for a while. Neither knew how long. Judy openly crying into Nick's neck, while Nick gently stroked down her back and ears while whispering comforting words to her.

"N-... Nick" Judy spoke quietly in between sobs, voice heavily muffled from Nick's neck.

"Yes, Judy?" Nick asked. He knew the situation was serious and wasn't the time for a nickname. This was a situation to use the does birth name.

While she heard her name, she couldn't think too much about it as she couldn't stop thinking about her father "Will... Will he be ok?" she asked quietly, voice still muffled but Nick could still hear every word she spoke, "Will my father be ok?"

"Judy, look at me" Nick spoke gently into her ear. Reluctantly and slowly, Judy pulled back, her arms still around the foxes neck but she was looking straight into his emerald eyes. Bringing a paw up to wipe at the tears around Judy's eyes, Nick spoke in a gentle voice "He's going to be fine Judy, I've been there before and the officers don't let anything happen to anyone in there, no matter what their species is or what they did to get in there."

"I know I said I wouldn't mind if you arrested him but- but that would have been for assault n- not murder on an officer" more tears were coming out from the does usually sparkling purple eyes.

Nick placed a digit on Judy's lips and quietened her as he leaned forward and rested his forehead on hers "Shhhh, he'll be fine Judy, If anything were to happen to him, I'll do something about it, I don't know what but I will make sure that the mammal will be punished, I promise."

Despite how difficult it would be for Nick to keep his promise, but she had faith in him. Leaving a kiss on the end Nick's nose, Judy broke into another set of tears. These tears were not sad, instead thankful that Nick was there for her.

"Thank you, Nick"

* * *

 **AN:** This chapter was a lot more drama-heavy than I thought would be, not the best type of chapter to return to after a break. I should be back to my normal routine of chapter updates but I can not promise anything. If it isn't the normal two chapters a week, I can at least try and promise one a week.

If I'm honest, there is most likely more errors than usual since I had a break during December. To put it simple, I couldn't find any motivation to do anything, that includes writing, school work and just about anything else that requires effort.


	18. The Arrest

**AN: **Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.

 **Reviews:**

 **GhostWolf:** I promise, that this will be the last piece of drama for (hopefully) a while.

 **Combat Engineer:** Looks like Stu's luck has finally run out and he is now being punished for all the times he had assaulted Nick.

 **Fox In The Hen House:** As addressed in PM.

 **Cimar Of Turalis WildeHopps:** Hopefully Nick and Judy make it out alright. Hopefully, Nick can receive help from others and finally complete his big plan (Yes, It is still incomplete and there is more to come from it soon).

 **Makahala XIII:** That is a very good question with a lot of possible answers, the catalyst could be Judy, Nick, Stu, Matt or possibly someone else. Is Stu going to jail... well the chapter title answers that question.

* * *

Zootopia Stereotypes

Chapter 18: The Arrest

Jack stood in the middle of the road, watching the cruiser drive away. A small smile on his face knowing that his favorite littermate had successfully tricked their parents and other siblings, even himself.

He didn't know who had come up with the plan, but he had to admit that it was a good one.

Nick gets to continue his career as an officer. Judy gets to train and eventually become an officer like she always wanted to be. It's a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Once the cruiser disappeared, Jack turned back to his home and walked up the dirt path towards the front door.

As soon as Jack closed the door behind him, Stu, Bonnie, and Jake looked towards him. Their faces all showing annoyance at different levels and his brother Jake even had some disappointment on his face.

Before any of them could ask any type of question, Jack walked past them at a casual speed and headed upstairs, deciding to call it a night.

"Jack!" Stu called as the young buck reach the top of the stairs.

The buck in question chose to ignore his father, instead, he walked towards his door and closed it before changing clothes and laying down in his bed.

While he had been a big supporter of his sister and her dreams of becoming a cop, he was still worried. While no bunny had ever attempted to become a cop in Zootopia, that didn't stop news spreading of what being a cop in Zootopia was like and what training cadets had to endure.

The ice wall was one of the more worrying ones for Jack to think of. Having to climb a wall made of strong ice and a freezing cold pool of water underneath the wall, waiting for anyone to fall in. Bunnies didn't have long or thick fur and weren't good at climbing. When Jack took these factors into consideration, he couldn't help but feel worried for Judy. He just hoped when Judy would fall in the water, she was able to get out quick enough.

The one part of the training that Jack was most worried about was the paw to paw combat. While Judy didn't like to use violence, she could handle herself against someone her size. Whenever an argument with Ellie got physical, Judy would always come out on top. But she would have to go one-on-one with animals more than ten times her size.

Knowing he won't be able to get to sleep with thoughts of Judy being hurt, Jack settled for pulling out his phone. He went to his contacts and called Judy.

He held the phone up to his ear and waited patiently for someone to pick it up. When no one did, Jack left a message.

"Hey Judy, uhhhh... Do me a favor and please...please don't get hurt too much, I know it's apart of the job but... we all worry about you. Even mom and dad, they still care for you, they are just worried, love you Judes, we all do"

Once he finished recording his message, Jack opened up Ewetube and watched some videos to distract his mind before falling asleep.

* * *

It was early morning, sun not fully out yet, but this was the normal wake up time for the Hopps family. Bonnie and Stu had woken up earlier and, with their bodies on autopilot, got dressed and walked around the house, knocking on any door left unopen to wake the heavy sleepers.

Bonnie made sure to say the name of each kit as she knocked on their door.

"Judy, get up unless you want Ellie to get your breakfast"

Unlike the few rare occasions where Bonnie had to knock on this door, no one came bursting out of it with a happy and cheerful smile.

That's when Bonnie stopped moving on autopilot and she realized whose door she was knocking on.

The memories of the previous night came to mind, the fox, the argument with Judy, Judy running away from home in the cruiser that the fox arrived in.

Bonnie slowly and hesitantly reached out to the door and opened it very slowly, almost as if she was expecting something to jump out of it. Nothing had jumped out. There was no sleeping body in the bed.

The room was empty, except for the bed, desk, and other objects that were impossible to fit in a suitcase.

The wardrobe was empty of all clothing. The desk mostly empty of any belongings.

There were a few family pictures left on the desk, from what Bonnie could remember, Judy had only taken one of the family pictures. The one of Judy, Bonnie, and Stu in a group hug. A ghost of a smile formed on Bonnie's lips, knowing that her daughter still cared enough about her parents that she took one picture.

Turning to the bed, there was still the pile of plushies that Judy had been gifted throughout her kithood. Much like the pictures, there was one missing. A bunny what was dressed in a blue police uniform was missing. It was a gift for Judy's tenth birthday, despite her saying she was too old for plushies, she still took the plushie and treated it like her favorite sibling. It was obvious that it was Judy's favorite.

Feeling tears threaten to roll out of her eyes, Bonnie quickly left the room and closed the door behind her. She was about to continue her routine of waking late sleepers but she heard a heavy knock at the front door.

Bonnie would be lying if she said that there was a bit of hope at the thought of Judy coming back.

That small bit of hope quickly vanished however when she opened the front door and was greeted by the sight of a wolf with dark fur. The wolf alone could have struck fear into Bonnie alone but it didn't help that there was a lion not standing too far behind the wolf.

"Morning ma'am I am Officer Wolfard and this is my partner Officer Delgato of Zootopia Precinct One, we have reason to believe that there have been some illegal activity taking place at this residence" The wolf, who Bonnie had now learned was called Wolfard, spoke with a casual ease before nodding towards the lion behind him and taking a step to the side.

The lion reached into one of the pockets on his chest and pulled out a blurry picture and held it out for Bonnie to take "Do you know where this bunny is?" he asked as Bonnie continued to look at the picture.

It was blurry and dark but who the picture was focussing on was clear. There was a limp body of a uniformed fox being dragged into the trunk of a police cruiser, a brown bunny in overalls and a bright white shirt pulling the body up.

Bonnie knew who it was, it wasn't difficult to identify someone you see every day. She tried to open her mouth to reply but her words were stuck in the doe's mouth. She had never thought of what would happen if someone had seen Stu with the fox's body. But now it was happening.

"What's going on out here Bon?" Stu asked as he walked towards the front door, confused as to why Bonnie hadn't either welcomed their guest or sent them along their way.

Stu stopped in his tracks as he saw the two uniformed cops. Much like his wife, he hadn't thought of the possibility of someone catching him in the act.

The wolf and lion looked at each other, asking the other the same question without uttering a single word, both replying with a simple head nod.

"Sir, could you please step out of the house with your paws behind your head" Delgato spoke as Wolfard pulled out a pair of small pawcuffs.

Stu hadn't thought of the possibility of prison, he was distracted too much from everything Judy was doing. But now that he was about to be arrested, everything seemed so much more real.

Looking at his wife who already had tears in her eyes, he couldn't think of the struggle she was having, having to watch one of her daughters run away and now watching her husband be arrested.

Knowing that there was no way out of this situation, Stu leaned towards his wife and kissed her on the lips before complying with what the officers had asked.

He held his paws on the back of his head and walked out of the house in front of the officers before turning around, his back facing the two much bigger mammals.

He was scared, his nose twitching frequently. Half because he was so close to two predators and half because he didn't know what prison life was like, or how long he would spend in there, one thing was for sure though, he would be in there for a lot of time.

The wolf lowered the rabbit's paws and slapped the cuffs over his wrists before he started to escort Stu to the cruiser.

Delgato crouched down and started to talk to Bonnie as Wolfard put Stu into the back of the cruiser.

With Stu in the back and the doors locked, Wolfard went to the passenger seat in the front and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.

"I just have a few questions for you, nothing too bad, my partner is asking your wife the same questions, so we will know if one of you is lying, understand?" His voice had a small hint of sorrow for the buck he just arrested but it still maintained a professional and authoritative tone.

Stu simple nodded his head as it hung low, and he looked at the floor.

"Names please"

"Stu Hopps" His voice low but still carried enough volume to be heard

Wolfard paused for a moment. He had a small feeling that he had heard Bogo mention the name 'Hopps' a few times in an annoyed tone but the wolf wasn't one hundred percent sure. Putting the thought away, Wolfard continued asking the questions "Occupation?"

"Farmer"

"How is the harvest coming along?" Wolfard asked. While he knew next to nothing about farming, he did know that the buck was tense and scared, that's why the wolf tried to distract the buck with another topic.

After a small moment of hesitation, Stu responded "It's going well, better than last year that's for sure"

"That's good," Wolfard said before letting out a sigh "Listen, I know you don't want to talk about this, truth be told I never like taking someone away from their family, I just have two important questions that I need to ask, we can skip the others"

Stu was surprised by the sudden shift in the wolf's demeanor. In the matter of a few seconds, the wolf went from professional and serious to talking to Stu as if they were friends who had just reunited.

Stu nodded his head, preparing himself for the question.

"Where is the cruiser and where is Officer Wilde's body?"

It didn't matter how much Stu prepared himself. He would never answer that question truthfully. While he had an argument with Judy, it wasn't enough to warrant him to destroy her chances of achieving her dream. Despite how much he didn't want Judy to be a cop.

"I don't know" he answered, only half lying. He knew Judy had gone to Zootopia, but he didn't know where.

"Remember, my partner is asking your wife the same questions, your time could be expanded for lying to an officer and withholding information about an ongoing investigation" Wolfard reminded the buck

Stu looked out the window, barely able to see out of it, he looked at his wife. She was still in tears, Stu wished he could just run out and comfort her, but he knew he couldn't.

He put faith in Bonnie to lie about Judy taking the cruiser, he didn't see any reason why she would want to put on of their daughters in prison. "I don't know where she took it"

"Who is she?" Wolfard asked quickly, making Stu realize that he had just made the officers job that much easier.

Not trusting himself to talk anymore, Stu remained silent, despite how much the wolf had asked.

Some time passed until the driver's door opened and the lion entered. "Got any information on the cruiser and Wilde's location," the lion asked his partner as he started the cruisers.

"Nothing except a gender, female, presumably an offspring" Wolfard had replied quickly.

"I've got a list of names of kits who were currently in the house at the time, think we should run the name 'Hopps' in the system and question each on that fits the small profile of information we have?"

After a short while of thinking and writing down notes, the wolf looked at the lion and replied "It's worth a try, Don't think it will have a lot of information though, remember Wilde had to check the system here because he couldn't find any important info about who he had to question"

The cruiser was silent for a while, a question was nagging at Stu and he wanted to desperately ask it. Taking a deep breath and clearing his throat, Stu spoke up "May I ask a question?"

The wolf and lion looked at each other with confusion before Delgato responded with some caution in his voice "Sure...go ahead"

"Why are you searching for the fox's body?"It was a simple question, but Stu needed to know the answer.

"First off, his names Officer Wilde" Delgato corrected before continuing "We have our reasons, it's not just because we were assigned this case"

"Why is it then?" Stu asked with confusion and interest.

"Because despite being a fox, he was an officer, he put the badge and uniform on every morning and swore to protect the citizens of Zootopia, that badge and uniform made him apart of our family, because, despite our differences, the badge makes us all equal, no matter what our species is"

There was a heavy silence for a few moments before the lion continued

"We all want justice for our fallen brother in blue"

* * *

 **AN:** Now I'm off to see if I can write a chapter for this that isn't full of drama, no promises.


	19. Update

Right, well, I'm not going to beat around the bush with this. Before I get started, yes, this is an A/N chapter and not an actual story chapter, and yes, I am aware this is a violation and I will piss off a certain group but . . . Meh.

Important stuff is important!

First: If you follow/favorite me or all of my fics I would like to apologies for the sudden spam of all my fics being updated (at least the main ones) since they are going to be the same thing.

Second, I have said this on an A03 comment recently but it's better to have it more public and out there so more people know what has gone on with me.

But lets just get straight into it.

As you may of noticed, I haven't updated any of my fics in a while. This is not due to a lack of interest. I still want to write these . . . Or at least FS . . . Stereotypes is just . . . Bleh! Terrible piece, no idea what kind of drugs I was on when I wrote that thing but they were not the good kind. Back to the point of this. I still want to write, my life is just very occupied. I have very little free time and even less coming up because of school starting again. I'm in my last year of English high school and as such will have to take my GCSE's (English equivalent to Finals for all you Americans) so that is a pretty big deal that I should be dedicating as much time to as possible. But with school starting up soon, it has also sucked my motivation out to do anything so you probably won't get much for me if I continued writing . . . Whoops, spoilers. I also had a bad experience with someone who killed my motivation to write for some time.

But yes, I am, and have been for a while, retired from writing. Whether this is permanent or temporary, I do not know. Should I of announced this earlier? Yes, yes I should and I am sorry for leaving you all waiting for so long . . . All 5 of you that care. I am still writing though, just not for any of my fics. They are mostly pieces of fluff for my boyfriend (yeah, that happened too . . . somehow) or friends I have met in this fandom. None of this will be posted. The fics that are posted are not abandoned, but discontinued.

Let me repeat that.

The fics that are posted are not abandoned, but discontinued.

I honestly don't know what else there is to say here . . . I really don't know how to word this . . . But I'm trying. Before I wrap this up, I would like to give out a few thank yous.

First to Cimar Of Turalis/WildeHopps for being my inspiration to start writing and for helping me get to know more people in this fandom and even letting me participate in What If even though my piece was never completed.

The same kind of thank you can be given out to the likes of DrekkDeina, Zanrok, BlueLighthouse, Fox in the hen house, Midnightopheliac, Those Other Things (Boys like you just returned! Wooo!), and so many other big and small names that played a part in getting me to write.

A thank you to Skeali (which will be strange to anyone who knows what went down) for being one of the first close friends I made in this fandom

AnsemD for just being a great friend and trying to help revive my writing groove . . . And bugging me endlessly to read Two Of A Kind, there you go buddy, got a plug in for you! And again, I give you permission to continue SF without me and will publish any chapters you send my way on here.

Ande883 for being another close friend I made in this fandom, not sure if you will see this buddy but I wish you well.

To Ake'cheta Knoton for offering me advice when I needed it the most.

To Gabriel (TheNightManager) A: for the amazing artwork he did for me, would highly recommend checking him out on DA, there you go, you got a plug too and B: being another close friend I made in this fandom . . . And for allowing me to try and destroy your fragile heterosexuality

To Irual for other to proof read and beta a fic of mine I never published due to complications.

Yet another strange one, to Akanomi1/FluffProvider82 for offering just an ear to listen to m mumbles back in the earlier days of when I joined

And more recently to Praxus and S1n1st3rS0ul/F0xxo for being as close as family to me and always trying to help me no mater how many times I fuck up (it's a lot)

I'm very sure there are plenty of names I am missing, AoenFeral, LapisLucius42, Soel, OnceNeverTwiceAlways, LanceWhitney/CaptainPrice79, SnowFox, and many, many, many, many more. But I am still yet to give out the biggest thank you.

And in a totally non-predictable result:

I would like to say a big thank you to anyone who even bothered to click a link to one of my fics, even if they didn't read it. This whole community is great and the very few bad are very outweighed by the overwhelming good. I would never of met these names listed above if it wasn't for the readers, even if I was very, very, very rusty in the early days, I feel like I have grown as a writer along with you guys, so thank you.

I will still be around, none of my stories will be deleted despite how much I want to delete Stereotypes. If you do wish to contact me, you can always shoot me a DM on here and I will respond as soon as possible. Or! I, always being one to d things in an interesting way that will most likely backfire, am going to do this. The best way to contact me is through Discord. I am on there very regularly and will respond to all messages on there.

So here is that move I will probably end up regretting. If you wish to contact me on Discord: TW14#6357

And because it is now almost 6AM and I still haven't had any sleep, I'm going to finish off here before my rambling continues.

Hmm, I never had a personal way to end my A/Ns . . . I guess there is a first time for everything so . . . I'll think of something, think it is good but regret it as soon as I publish this.

. . .

After many long minutes of not getting any idea of how to personally end my A/Ns, I'm just going to do it like this

-TW14


End file.
